After the End
by TheTwilightRurouni
Summary: Wars have been waged, friends have been made and lost, and now Tellius is at peace. The story is over. But life is not, and as it is lived out, new stories will be made. Post RD.
1. After the End

**Oh look...another distraction from ToaHaHD. Seriously, I can't get through two chapters these days without posting something new. And this time it's a whole new story, not just some crazy oneshot. Although I will say a certain kender convinced me this was a good idea. Thankfully though, this story is different than what I usually write. In fact, it's way different, I should say buyer beware. But you'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, this isn't so much a story with a plot as it is a series of individual episodes all revolving loosely around the same story line. They are successive and connect to each other, but they are to be read by themselves. So sit back and enjoy, if at all possible.**

Ike sighed and peeled away his armor, enjoying the breeze that washed over his upper body. His clothes were drenched with sweat, and he didn't want to think about how he smelled. Of course, as he looked around the room he knew no one was any better. Looking at Boyd, who had a five foot radius cleared around him, he knew the fighter was probably worse. Then again, Boyd rarely washed his gear.

"Well that was fun!" Mia said, bouncing over to Ike, her eyes a glow and her purple hair slicked back with sweat.

"Yes," he agreed, "It's not often we get an invitation from Elincia to train with the guard."

"You mean train the guard, not train _with_," Shinon muttered, "They were awful."

"Shinon!" Mia hissed, nodding towards the far side of the room, "We're not alone!"

The sniper shrugged, "So? Anyone with both eyes open and a brain to use 'em could see this was a waste of our time. We're doing Elincia a favor, not the other way around."

"Rude is rude, Shinon," Titania said, giving him a look that clearly said he was to keep his comments to himself.

"Besides," Mia laughed, "these were the newbies, what'd you expect?"

"These were supposed to be the best and brightest newbies," Shinon answered, "I expected at the very least some measure of competence."

"It was a good exercise for us all. It's good to make sure we don't forget the basics," Ike said, mandating it as more than just his opinion.

Shinon grunted and started cleaning his silencer.

"So what's next boss?" Mia asked after a moment, shifting from one foot to another.

Ike's eyes moved back and forth, a slight hint of a smile on his face as he watched her; she never seemed to stop moving. "We've got a job in Ohma. I'll be seeing if Nephenee wants to give us a hand on this one."

"Great," Shinon said flatly, "how about we see if Brom can come too? Get the whole Bumpkin Brigade on our side."

Titania dropped what she was doing and turned on the smaller man, "Shinon!"

The sniper shut up, but his gaze held venom as Titania turned back to her equipment. Things were tense around the company, and not just because of Shinon. With the so-called Goddess' War over and done with, things were quite peaceful in Tellius. Which was bad news as far as soldiers for hire were concerned.

"At least tell me it's not another training job," Shinon asked.

When Ike didn't answer Shinon stopped what he was doing and looked over his shoulder at the younger man. Ike didn't meet his gaze, but continued to pack his things. Shinon let out a bark of tired laughter and turned back around.

"I knew it. But whatever, it's not like there's work anywhere else. This whole blasted country is as dull as Boyd's wit."

"What?" asked the fighter, looking up from his shoulder pads. He had apparently been sniffing them, to decide if they needed a wash or not.

"Exactly," Shinon said, nodding his head slightly, "Thanks for the help-"

Shinon stopped talking as suddenly the doors burst open to reveal two young men standing just outside the room.

"-come on, it's not that big of a deal. You know it's right, let it go," said the first, his hand on the second's shoulder.

"No way!" said the other, jerking away from his grip, "There is no way this is right! I went through the academy with _perfect_ marks, there's no way some backwater mercenary got me seven times!"

"Is there a problem?" Ike asked, looking from one to the other.

"No!" the first said, attempting to drag his friend away, "We just wanted to say thank you for today, it was a pleasure drilling with you. We've heard so much about you, when Miss Crimea said you'd be visiting, we almost didn't believe it. Come on-"

The second shrugged him off again, "I said no! And yeah, I do have a problem!"

Ike raised an eyebrow, "…yes?"

The man took a step into the room and pointed to the digital readout on a small touch screen in his hand, "Who's red_tresses32?! There's no way he nailed me seven times!"

The room fell silent, and all eyes went to Titania, who looked up from the Sig Sauer she held in her hands.

"That's me," she said calmly, meeting the young man's fiery gaze, "You don't believe I tagged you seven times? I'm sure you'll have seven bruises to prove it."

The man's glare suddenly grew less self-righteous, and he glanced back down at the screen in his hand.

"From what I've heard, the hit detection on the new vests is as close to perfect as you'll get. It should say I hit you seven times, with this," she said, toting the Sig Sauer handgun, "and if you don't believe me take off your shirt. Like I said, rubber bullets leave bruises."

"No Titania," Shinon said, walking towards the man, "I don't think he'll have seven bruises. I think he'll have just one, right over his_ heart_."

Emphasizing the last word, Shinon poked the man in the chest through the vest he wore, directly over his heart. The man gasped and pulled away, rubbing the spot like he'd been punched with a pair of brass knuckles.

"You guys were a joke," Shinon continued, and then turned towards the security camera at the far end of the locker room, "A joke!"

The sniper stalked to his duffel bag and quickly finished disassembling his rifle before shoving it violently inside. Throwing the bag over one shoulder, he pushed his way through the two younger men, both of whom stood taller than him. After a moment of stunned silence, the first allowed himself to be led away, casting only a bitter glance over his shoulder towards Titania.

After a moment Titania sighed and went back to her work, quietly removing her training vest and packing it away.

"What a jerk," Mia said, spinning a P-99 lazily around one finger.

Titania shrugged, "Stave off World War III _twice_ and you'll still have people who say you weren't cut out for it. It's how it goes when you're a mercenary."

Mia sat on a bench, propping her chin up on a closed fist as she stared at the older woman with a lopsided gaze, "That's what I always hated about the job, no one takes you seriously."

"That's the truth of it," Titania said, "but we know there's at least one person who takes us seriously."

"Yes," Ike interrupted, throwing his own bag over one shoulder, "And I'm sure Elincia will have a lot to say concerning today. Let's go."

Ike headed for the door and the others followed, making their way through the facility and out to the black SUV that awaited them in the parking lot. From behind the steering wheel Oscar smiled at them cheerfully, his green bangs hanging low over his face, limp in the summer humidity.

"Where to?" he asked as Ike got in on the passenger's side. Ike leaned to his left, eyeing Shinon in the rearview mirror before settling into his seat.

"Parliament. We have some things to discuss with Elincia, and we need to pick up Soren and Mist."

"What about Gatrie and Rhys?" Oscar asked, throwing the vehicle into gear.

"They left with Rolf, remember," Ike said as they rolled out of the parking lot and merged with the rush hour traffic.

"That's right," Oscar said, "I keep forgetting... So, how was the afternoon?"

"I think you shouldn't have volunteered to stay back," Ike answered, "Some of us were less than polite."

They heard a 'humph' from the back seat, and Oscar's smile widened, "If you kept him away from every situation where he could possibly offend someone, he'd never get any work done."

"I know," Ike sighed gustily, closing his eyes and slouching down in the bucket seat. He toyed with the tape around his index finger for a moment before speaking again, "How's Astrid doing?"

Oscar took the question in stride, changing lanes as he answered, "She's loving the academy. Although she insists she wants to join up with us when she gets out."

"Girl must be crazy," Shinon muttered from the back, "There's no work in the security business."

"Crazy for a certain _someone_," Mia sang, punching Oscar in the shoulder.

"Not while I'm driving Mia," Oscar said with a laugh, glancing over the shoulder she'd slugged him on before getting onto a freeway entry ramp.

As the vehicle lurched forward to match the frenzied pace of the highway traffic, Mia tilted in her seat, so that her upper half was on the arm rest squarely between Oscar and Ike.

"So when's Rolf coming home? I'm gonna miss the little guy."

Oscar shrugged, "The academy based out of Begnion has an intensive program, and airfare is expensive. I'm not even sure if he'll be coming home for Christmas. That's why Gatrie and Rhys went with him, to make sure he got settled in."

Mia wrinkled her nose, "But Rolf's already completed most of the program here, doesn't any of it transfer?"

"Yes it does," Oscar nodded, "It'll probably take him a year or so."

"He's been here longer than me," Mia continued, "It'll be weird without him."

"Pffft, I won't miss the little twerp," Boyd snorted, crossing his arms and looking out the window, "If he wants to ditch us for some academy, let him."

"Boyd, that's not fair," Mia argued, "No other academy could take him, Begnion was his only option."

"What do you mean? And why'd he need to go to a police academy anyway? I didn't, I turned out fine!"

"He wants to be legal with a sniper rifle Boyd, he can only get that at an academy."

Boyd threw his arms up, "That's another thing! Who told him to go join S.W.A.T.? Dirty little traitor…"

No one noticed as Shinon sidled further away from the irate Boyd.

"For the last time," Oscar said, and quite loudly at that, "He's finishing the academy and coming right back. He's not joining S.W.A.T., the marines, or anything else. The company means just as much to him as it does to you and me. I think if he can make it through the academy he should."

The car was silent as Oscar merged onto an exit ramp, coming to a halt at a red light as they neared downtown Melior. At five o' clock in the evening it was a sea of cars and people. Cab drivers sped through the chaos, people dashed along crosswalks, and bike messengers hurtled through the crowded streets. Oscar slowly eased them into the rush hour mess, heading for the parliament building. Thirty minutes and twenty city clocks later they pulled up outside the tall, stately structure and piled out.

With a high pitched, electronic chirp Oscar locked the doors and the group ascended the stairs. As soon as they entered the revolving door the world became still. Heels clicked on linoleum as cabinet members walked about, the outside world forgotten among the politics of the government.

Ike walked to the front desk, leaning heavily upon the countertop as he waited for the red headed secretary to look up from her computer screen. After a moment she spoke, her eyes glued to the screen all the while,

"Everyone here knows you by name now Ike; you were a member of the Lords for goodness sake. You don't have to get permission each time you want to come in, that's what the I.D. cards are for."

Ike laughed, "Right, thanks Anna."

As he led them through the security check, holding up their I.D. badges one by one, a familiar alto voice rang out through the lobby.

"Ike, you're late!"

The group turned to see Mist, emerging from a corridor which led deeper into the government building.

"We've been waiting, come on," she continued, tapping her foot impatiently.

Ike waved her off, waiting for Boyd to finish the biometrics scan before he joined Mist on the other side of the security barrier.

"You take forever, Soren's been here for nearly an hour," she said, leading them back down the corridor before taking the third door on the right.

Inside was a large conference room, with a wide oval table directly in the center. At one end sat Soren, his eyes dancing over a laptop screen with Elincia next to him, watching over his shoulder. His long, dark hair was in a loose tail, and the first button on his black collared shirt was undone, revealing his attorney's badge on a small silver chain around his neck. He had both sleeves rolled up in the summer heat, his white forearms flashing as he pointed at the computer screen.

He looked up as Ike entered the room and leaned back in the swivel chair, "Finally."

"Traffic was awful-" Boyd began.

"I'll ask Oscar if I want to hear about the traffic," Soren interrupted, sitting forward once again, "Take a seat, we have less than an hour to discuss the videos from earlier today."

"We killed them, or would have if this wasn't a training exercise," Shinon said, his tone unapologetic, "What's to talk about?"

"A lot, actually. Mist, get the lights please."

The room darkened as Soren waited for them to take their seats around the table before pressing a key on the laptop. A projector hummed quietly, and soon they were looking at a very large picture of Ike's back. Soren hit another key, and the image leapt into motion. Ike walked a few steps, crouching low behind a barrier before lifting an arm and snapping his wrist to the right, his first two fingers extended in a silent order.

A purple haired blur moved past the screen, followed by what looked like a walking red tornado of curls and cascading locks. After Mia and Titania had presumably taken up their positions, Ike directed a single finger to the left. Boyd shuffled past the hidden camera, crouched low to the ground, and after he had gone Ike raised a closed fist before following him.

After he had left the screen, the video feed remained glued to where he had been, the only noise the quiet static if silent feedback.

"What are we watching?" Boyd asked, staring up at the screen.

As if to answer his question, an audible sigh came from the video, and a dark red head of hair came into view as Shinon took up his position.

"Yeah yeah, I'll stay back here and cover Boyd's clumsy backside. Or maybe not…heh."

The video paused, and the whole room turned to look at Shinon, who gave them all a scathing glare.

"What? I was joking, J-O-K –ing. Besides, not like I knew the camera was there."

Boyd mouthed a silent threat towards the marksman before looking back up at the screen as Soren resumed play. Slightly labored breathing could be heard as Shinon climbed to a suitable vantage point, and then the camera switched to a top-down view, angled to show the movements of Elincia's men.

They fanned out, silently moving through the vast training room. At more than two miles long and a mile wide, and filled with barriers and vantage points of every kind, it served as a suitable location to pit forces against one another. It was a modern, albeit humane, coliseum.

Quickly, though, it became clear exactly how the afternoon had panned out. As the point man for Elincia's men ventured out from behind his barrier, a single bullet drilled him in the chest. He coughed, dropping to one knee as he relayed a final order to the men behind him. Three headed off to the left, and one made his way around to the right, alone.

"Now we move to a split feed," Soren said, and the group watched as the screen divided in two. One camera showed the group of three, the other showed the single man, creeping along quietly as he made his way through the maze of a training hall.

After a moment Soren lifted an arm, his silver ring flashing as he pointed to the right half of the screen. "Watch the single one."

As the words left Soren's mouth, the butt of an assault rifle lashed out from behind a wall, knocking aside the on-screen man's gun. The man dropped the weapon and went in for a strike, disappearing behind the wall that hid his assailant from the camera. The angle switched, though, just in time to show Boyd getting into a brief scuffle before putting the man in an arm bar. The pair dropped to the ground, Boyd securely on top, and Ike stepped out.

Ike drew a small pistol from a holster at the small of his back and shot the man in the ribs. Red paint splattered across his vest, and Boyd let him go, following Ike farther into the course. The right half of the screen disappeared just in time to cut off the man's quiet string of curses; now it was just the group of three.

For a few minutes the group watched in silence as the on-screen trio diligently navigated the mock battlefield. Eventually, though, the point man neglected a blind spot, surely out of ignorance rather than arrogance, and that was all it took. As he looked away and signaled for the men to move forward, the muted hiss of a silenced pistol could be heard, and a dull thump as one of the men took a rubber bullet the chest.

The remaining two dashed for cover, pulling up as Titania and Mia stepped out, guns trained on their hearts. The pair raised their hands in the air, and two seconds later Ike and Boyd appeared behind them, marking them with red paintballs. The two dropped their arms as the lights came on in the facility, shaking their heads as they began the long haul back to the opposite side of the room.

Soren paused the video and turned to look around the table. "Mist, lights please."

As the room lit up, he continued. "There's more, but that might as well have been the entire afternoon. You took on three different teams, rotated throughout the course of the exercise, and that was the result each time. I believe Boyd took a hit once, and Mia was got painted once during the last round, otherwise we performed flawlessly."

Mia laughed, "I should actually apologize for that. I admit, I got a little bored at the end. I stepped out and let him mark me while Titania got him from behind. It was a stupid move though, one I would never do if it was the real deal."

"I should hope not…" Soren said offhandedly, trailing off as he closed the video and shut down the laptop, "But what we really have to talk about is where this leaves the Royal Guard. Elincia?"

"Thank you, Soren," Elincia said, smiling at the stoic young man, "Getting straight to the point…most of the Imperial Guard died in the Mad King's War, not to mention the Goddess'. I hate to be so callous, but I need to replace them. And as you can see, the newest academy graduates aren't performing well. Not that I expected them to against you, but I had hoped for something a bit more…spirited."

Boyd nodded his head in agreement. "They did just kinda curl up and die."

"They don't have the experience," Titania explained calmly, "They aren't used to people shooting at them, with rubber bullets or real ones."

Elincia nodded, "And that brings me to the point of this meeting. I'd like to hire you…again."

The room was silent for a moment before Ike cleared his throat, "Ahm, are you sure? Hiring an outside group like Greil Security…it was acceptable in the past. The country was in ruins and you had no other choice, but now…won't it be seen as a sign of weakness? Not that I'm going to turn you down, but you're sure you want to do this?"

"You're right, and normally I wouldn't do this. But you're not just a security company. People know you, they love you. I think it will help, actually. And with you on my payroll, you'll have more time for things like this afternoon."

"All right then…we'll need some time to clear up our schedule though. We won't be truly available for the next two months," Ike answered.

"Oh? What about today?" Elincia asked.

Ike smiled, "Today was a favor for a friend, I wasn't expecting _this_. We'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Elincia nodded her acknowledgment and the group stood, getting ready to leave the room.

"So," Boyd said, fiddling with his wristwatch, "When do we leave for Ohma?"

"Tomorrow, why?" Ike asked, looking at him dubiously. He could already guess what this was about.

"No reason…" Boyd said, trailing off as he watched Mist and Mia out of the corner of his eye. As soon as the two women left, he grabbed Ike by the shoulders, "I forgot to get Mist an anniversary present!"

"I thought so," Ike said, shrugging off the man's panicked grip.

"First anniversary's an important one too," Soren said, brushing by the pair and making his way out into the hall.

"Gee thanks, as if I didn't know that," Boyd grumbled.

"How did you forget anyway?" Ike asked, the two slowly walking from the room and down the hall.

Boyd stalled for a moment before answering, "Uh…I didn't really forget, I knew it was today, it just snuck up on me."

"Right," Ike sighed, "Then you can take the SUV out tonight and get her something. And you two can stay back from the Ohma job."

"But what do I _get_ her?!" Boyd pressed, his problem hardly solved.

Ike raised an open palm, pushing Boyd away, "Nonono, don't ask me. I'm just her brother, you're married to her. Anything I would get for her would not even count as a present coming from you."

As Ike walked away, Oscar stopped next to his brother, "I heard Jill and Mist on the phone the other day. They were fawning over the new Serenes clothing lines."

"Clothes?" Boyd said, an expression of dismay settling over his features, "You think Mia will come help me?"

Oscar laughed, "I'm sure she'd love to, but have you seen her on off days? She wears boxers and t-shirts; she knows as much about clothes as Ike. Ask Titania if she'll go."

"Right…" Boyd answered. He could already imagine Titania's face, that amused smile of hers she wore whenever he needed a favor.

Oscar left it at that, and the two brothers made their way through the lobby and down to the parked vehicle. Ike was behind the wheel, talking with Soren as Oscar and Boyd piled in.

"-he joking? Yeah right! You haven't done a case pro bono in your life!"

"And I made sure he knew that," Soren answered, folding his arms and looking out the window.

Ike, still laughing, took a quick headcount in the rearview mirror, "Everyone here?"

After a chorus of affirmations Ike shifted into drive, easing them into the flow of traffic.

"Are you going to accept?" Mia asked after a moment, voicing what was one everyone's mind.

Ike shrugged, "I don't see why not. There really isn't much lined up these days…unless you all want to be rent-a-cops."

A cacophony of groans filled the air, Ike grinning all the while. He shook his head and pressed down on the accelerator; of course they would take the job.

**I felt kind of mean broadsiding you with an AU, I apologize to those of you who dislike AU's, but I really wanted to write one. And I also wanted it to be a surprise. That said, I do hope you enjoyed this. Like I said before, this is something new for me, all chapters will be connected, but not necessarily linear. And I'm afraid I'm doing a horrid job of explaining this, but if you stick around long enough you'll see what I mean. That said, I'm going to try to finish ToaHaHD before I post again here. Please give me your thoughts, I'd really like to know if you enjoyed it or if it's just another AU. Until next update,**

**Twilight Rurouni**


	2. Serenes Serendipity

**I lied. And I'm also a terrible person. I have been working on ToaHaHD, but this fic keeps beating me upside the head. It's just too easy to write. So, no more lies. I WILL finish ToaHaHD, I just don't know when. So, that said, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

"Put. The lingerie. Down."

"But-"

"Down."

Boyd smiled sheepishly and placed the item back on the rack. Titania sighed, bringing an open hand to her forehead. It was late, she had just finished a hard day of training, and she wanted to be in a recliner reading a book. But she was here, at the Crimean branch of Serenes Forest. The store defined ritzy, people didn't come shopping here unless they had more money than the Queen herself. And even then, they sent someone to do the shopping _for_ them. And here she was, with Boyd of all people, standing in the women's lingerie section.

"I was talking about that," she said, clarifying what she had pointed to moments earlier.

Boyd's head turned and he saw a wide array of blouses, skirts, and shoes.

"Oh," he said, looking back towards Titania, "I thought you meant-"

"No Boyd, I did not."

"Are you sure? Because I think it would-"

"Tell her you have a one track mind, yes Boyd. That's exactly what giving her lingerie for an anniversary present would do. If she wants it she'll buy it on her _own_ time," Titania interrupted, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off towards any other part of the store.

Boyd remained silent, allowing himself to be placed front and center before a large array of very expensive blouses. After a moment of staring blankly, he ventured forth, having no idea what to pick first. After examining several items, he looked back at Titania.

"All the buttons are on backwards."

Titania nodded tiredly. "Yes, yes they are. They're supposed to be that way. Now, which one do you think would look nice on her?"

"Can't I just get her a gift card?" Boyd whined, his head reeling from indecision.

"If you want to be impersonal, yes. Boyd, you're buying this the day before your anniversary, it should be something that took time and effort to choose," Titania said, pausing to consider her next statement before letting it out, "And as much as I hate lying, you could say you were waiting for the new line to come out, which is why it was last minute."

Boyd's face lit up at the readymade excuse and he took a closer look at the clothes. Titania rolled her eyes; at least it had gotten him moving. After a moment he turned around, a hanger dangling off an outstretched index finger. On it was a yellow blouse. Titania raised an eyebrow, it actually would have looked quite nice on Mist. There was just one problem.

"Doesn't she have one that looks almost exactly like that?"

Boyd stalled. "Uh…well yeah. But she looks good in it, why not get one that looks similar?"

Titania absentmindedly twirled a fiery lock of hair around her finger. "I suppose, but maybe you should get another. Mist knows clothes, she'll pick up on it."

"Come on!" Boyd argued, "She's not some uptight snob, she won't actually care if I get her one that looks like something she already has!"

"No, but it would be nice of you to get one that expands her wardrobe."

Boyd frowned and thrust the item towards Titania, who calmly accepted it as he turned back towards the clothing. Now he really did have nothing to go on. After a few minutes of watching Boyd scratch his head, reach out for a piece of clothing, and then snatch his hand back at the last minute, Titania let out a sigh.

"This isn't easy!" Boyd protested, not bothering to turn around.

"No it's not. You're lucky I came at all, you'd better remember this when I need a favor."

Boyd laughed. "You don't need favors."

"Mm," Titania agreed mutely, letting her attention stray away from the clothing rack.

Soft music was playing throughout the store, a gentle lilting melody. Occasionally a cash register was heard as some late night shopper made a purchase. Titania hoped they had an easier time than she was. Stray, muffled voices drifted through the air from a few rows over as teen girls tried on pair after pair of shoes.

Titania smiled as the voices rose in pitch, apparently something was a must have.

"Oh my-is that…?"

"No way!"

"Here I have a picture!"

"It is!"

Titania shook her head and turned her attention back to Boyd, who was still mulling over his options. Just as she was about to make a suggestion, someone spoke for her.

"It is nice, the dark red one, lower left."

It was high, soft voice, almost a whisper. The words it spoke seemed to dance; the voice would alight on one syllable only to leap to the next. But more importantly, it was familiar. Titania turned, and broke into a smile. Now she knew what the girls had been talking about.

"Leanne! What are you doing here?"

Leanne smiled, her bright, green eyes turning up towards Titania's face. Like all Serenes she was small, impossibly delicate, yet she exuded energy. The bones of a Serenes were hollow, much like a bird's, and they completely baffled the biologists at Begnion's Mainal University. It had amused Reyson greatly.

Looking more closely at Leanne, Titania admired the long blonde locks that fell down behind her, held at bay by the young woman's bangs, which were tied back around the rest of her voluminous hair. She was wearing a white sundress, with small, low heeled sandals wrapped around her doll-like feet.

All of it was from her own line, which made sense. Serenes Forest was the only store that sold clothing in her size, which was why she and Reyson had started the business in the first place. The fame and commercial success had been secondary. Her competitors just hadn't counted on a business run by laguz to be such a hit.

"I come to Crimea to see how the branch fares here. It is small, Reyson said perhaps it will not last," she answered.

Titania shook her head, "Of course it will last. Remind Reyson that _small_ was why you started Serenes Forest in the first place."

Leanne stared at her for a moment before bursting forth in high, childish laughter, "You joke, but I will tell him! He will be disappointed that he did not get to see you, or maybe he would have come himself."

"I'm sure he'll see us next time he visits Elincia."

"You stay with her?"Leanne asked.

Titania nodded. "We will be, in a month or two."

"Oh, I feel jealous. I have not seen Elincia since the war. I have missed talking with her… Tell me, are my words pleasing to you? Reyson says yes, but I think he lies."

Again Titania shook her head. "No, your common is wonderful, much better than the last time I saw you."

Leanne's smile widened, as did Titania's. The Heron Tribe spoke in the ancient tongue, long since dead on Tellius, and Leanne was just now grasping the basics of the common tongue. Of course, she was still hard to understand at times. The galdr spoken by the Heron Tribe focused so much on emotions and feelings, it often found its way into Leanne's common.

"I am happy. I thought I would forever find common displeasing. But for what are you here?" she asked, looking at Titania and then towards Boyd.

"Boyd is trying to find an anniversary gift for Mist. It's tomorrow," Titania answered.

"So close!" Leanne said, her green eyes widening, "Why does he wait? For the new line?"

Titania nodded slowly. "Something like that. He's already picked out this one, he's trying to find one more."

Leanne looked at the yellow blouse Titania was holding and smiled. "He is right; it is a good color for Mist. May I help?"

"Yes!" Boyd said, finally turning around at offer.

Leanne positively glowed as she pointed to the lower left, "I did not know it was to be for Mist, but I still say the dark red. It is nice."

Titania and Boyd both looked down towards the left end of the rack. There, nearly hidden by the clothes around it, a dark red edge peeked out at them. Boyd reached out and snagged it, removing it from the rack. He held it up, narrowing his eyes as he examined it. It was a small dress, much like the one Leanne was wearing, and it clearly didn't belong in the blouses. After a moment he smiled.

"Wow, I never would have noticed, but I think Mist will like this."

Leanne held a hand over her mouth, hiding her mirth. "It is a good color for her! You should buy it."

"Thanks for the help, I will," Boyd answered, taking the yellow blouse from Titania and walking towards the checkout.

"Is that all?" Leanne asked, following along with Titania.

"Yeah, things here are so ex…" Boyd began trailing off as he handed the items to the clerk, "Ah, I mean yeah, that's all."

After minute of silence, Boyd looked up at the clerk. The woman was staring at something towards the back of the store.

"Hey," Boyd snapped his fingers a foot from her face, "Still here."

"Oh I'm sorry," she said with a start, and began to scan the tags on the clothing, "These are…"

She paused, glancing past Boyd once again. Behind him, Leanne removed an eyeliner pencil from her purse and, locking eyes with the clerk, snapped it in two. The woman raised an eyebrow and finished her sentence, looking back towards Boyd.

"Half off?"

It was more of a question than a statement, and Boyd's brow wrinkled. "They are? It didn't say anything about that on the rack…but I'm not complaining."

Grinning, Boyd handed over the money and took the small bag from the cashier.

"Well that was lucky, who would've guessed they were half off?" Boyd said as the trio made their way out of the store.

"Yes, it is _serendipitous_," Leanne smiled, accentuating the last word.

Titania laughed tiredly. "Have you been reading the dictionary, Leanne?"

"No. Reyson used that word last week, I liked it. It has a sound like Serenes."

"Ah," Titania nodded, "And yes, it _was_ very lucky for Boyd that there happened to be a sale tonight. Anyway, we have to be getting back, but it was so nice to see you Leanne. Stop by the palace in a month or two, or the next time you're in Crimea. I'm sure the rest of the company would love to say hello."

"Yes," Leanne answered, "I would be happy to see them. Maybe we could eat sometime?"

Titania suppressed a laugh; Leanne's common really was excellent, she shouldn't find it so amusing. "Yes, we'll have dinner the next time we see you."

"Good, so until then, I will say goodbye."

With a wave Leanne turned and walked down the sidewalk, in the opposite direction of the company car. Titania and Boyd stood, watching her go until she rounded the corner, and then headed for the parked car.

"Ah man," Boyd moaned as they approached the vehicle, "This sucks, we got a parking ticket."

"You know the rules Boyd," Titania chided, "_You_ drove the SUV, _you_ got the ticket. There is no 'we'."

"Yeah yeah," Boyd grumbled, "Lucky these were on sale or I wouldn't be able to pay this. Why are parking tickets so much more expensive in Melior? Jeez…"

Titania said nothing as she got in on the passenger's side, locking the doors as Boyd slid behind the wheel. As the engine turned over and Boyd shifted gears, Titania decided she would let it go. Boyd could think he was lucky. Besides, she supposed to have a friend like Leanne, and to have run into her tonight, it was rather lucky. Or rather…

Titania laughed quietly, thinking back to Leanne's words. "Serendipitous. Honestly…"

**Yes, Boyd is a fish out of water indeed. Thank goodness for the ladies. Again, hope it was entertaining, because that's all this fic is supposed to be. Maybe humorous too? Anyway, drop me a review if you have the time, otherwise I'll see you next update.**

**Twilight Rurouni**


	3. Following the Snide Sniper

**It's about that time again, for me to update this when I should be working on a certain something, but I couldn't help myself. I've discovered AU's are _fun._ So, I hope you enjoy the shenanigans and general tom foolery.**

* * *

"Oh no…I lost it again."

Soren's eye lazily drifted from the computer's monitor to where Mia sat, upside down in a recliner. Her feet, sticking straight up along the back of the chair, kicked absentmindedly as she examined the gun she held in her hands. Or, the pieces of what had been a gun at one point. Mia often took to dismantling the company firearms, and just as often she lost pieces of them.

"Isn't that one of the new models?" Soren asked, his expression amused.

"Yes…Ike just bought it yesterday. I don't know how it works yet," she answered, rolling off the chair and searching the carpet.

Soren's fingers drummed on the keyboard. "Just apologize, he won't care."

"I hate apologizing," Mia muttered, examining the seat of the recliner. "Just for the fact that it's starting to feel pointless…my apologies for losing things aren't worth much anymore."

"Then stop making it a necessity," Soren offered flatly, before looking back at his case files.

"That's hardly any fun," Mia replied, trailing off to a muffled drone as she lifted the chair and stuck her head and arms underneath. A moment later she emerged, a single screw on her palm. "Found it. And anyway, I need to know how things work before I use them."

Soren frowned and peered more closely at the monitor as he muttered a reply, more to himself than Mia, "And yet she drives the company car and has no problem using my computer…"

Mia's eyes rolled lazily towards the ceiling as she went about putting the mechanism back together. "That's different."

Soren nodded slightly. "Mhmm, of course it--"

He stopped speaking as Shinon abruptly entered the room. The man seemed preoccupied, seeing as he rifled through the bag at his side, looked around the room, back in the bag, and then headed for the door.

"Shinon, I thought you went to Ohma with Ike and Titania," Mia said, raising an eyebrow.

"What, are you serious? No, teaching bumpkins which end of a gun goes boom isn't my deal, even if they are paying us."

"They're not," Soren said.

"Exactly," Shinon replied, throwing the door open.

"Wait, where are you going?" Mia asked.

Shinon stopped for a brief moment as he answered, "Out. I have things do to." And then he was gone.

"I doubt that," Mia said darkly as the door slammed, leaving the two alone once again.

Soren's answer was a pause in the furious clicking of keys before pounding backspace several times. Mia continued, unperturbed by his silence.

"I mean, he has no friends besides Gatrie, and he's still in Begnion with Rolf. Where could he possibly be going? More than likely he just didn't want to admit he's got nothing better to do than go with Ike to Ohma."

Mia stopped, sliding down in her chair as she eyed Soren before speaking again. "If you really think about it--"

Soren let out a sigh, one that had been building up in his chest for the better part of the afternoon. Mia had that effect on him.

"You want to follow him?" he asked.

"Yes," Mia chirped before the question had been completed.

"Why?" Soren's tone was slightly exasperated.

"I'm tired of his 'high and mighty' act. I know you are too, let's go see what he's up to."

"I am not, and I'd rather we didn't."

"It's boring alone."

Soren closed the document he had been working on and turned to face her. "With me you might as well be alone."

Mia smiled, she was winning. "I don't care."

Soren glanced at his computer, then back at Mia. "I come and you promise not to use my computer for a month. I'm tired of logging on and finding it bogged down with spyware. "

Mia snapped a mock salute as she leapt out of the chair. "No computer for a month. Let's go."

"You don't even know where we're going," Soren pointed out as Mia charged for the door.

"Oh come on, he went downtown or something. We'll find him."

"Ike has the Suburban, and Shinon took his motorcycle. How do you plan on getting us downtown?"

Mia stopped and crossed one arm across her chest while twirling a lock of violet hair about her finger with the other. After a moment she looked at him expectantly. Soren raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so now you want to drag me along _and_ use my car?"

"Or we can go back inside and I can use your computer until dinner," Mia offered.

"Fine," Soren conceded.

Five minutes later they were on the freeway, headed for downtown Melior.

"Must you have the top down?" Soren asked, looking over at Mia as the wind whipped her hair about in frantic eddies.

"Soren. You have a convertible. It's the middle of summer. We're riding with the top down," Mia answered, shaking her head. "You need to have more fun."

"I didn't buy a convertible for fun, I bought it for status."

Mia laughed loudly as she asked, "What, you wage psychological warfare by pulling up to your trials in a nicer car?"

"Yes."

"Of course," Mia said dully, her mirth flat lining as her joke died.

"Where do you want to go?" Soren asked, changing lanes to pass a beater with the bass turned up too high.

"Let's go to Muston's, Shinon's probably wandering around looking at the scopes. Besides, I need another clip for my ninety-nine and a shoulder holster."

Soren's eyebrows dove, meeting in the middle to form an irritated V, "Is that why you wanted to follow Shinon, so we could go to Muston's? You know Ike's going tomorrow."

"Partly, and yes I know. But I really do want to see what Shinon's up to. I just also happen to need a new clip and holster."

Soren said nothing, and changed lanes again to get on the exit ramp. As they waited at a red light, another car pulled up alongside them. A loud wolf whistle pierced through the clamor of traffic, and then, "Hey girl! I gotta' ask you something!"

Mia turned and glared at the offender. "Whatever it is, no."

"Not you," the teen said, his grin widning. "Your friend."

Soren turned to stare directly at the young man, who twitched visibly before turning a bright shade of crimson. His friends in the back seat burst into hysterics, "Dude! You were hitting on a guy!"

As the light turned green the car peeled out, leaving skid marks on the road.

"You gotta be joking," Mia said, staring after the speeding vehicle.

Soren shook his head, "That's _another_ reason I usually keep the top up."

"Does that happen often?"

"No," Soren answered slowly, "but it's happened before."

"Then get a haircut! That's the problem," Mia announced, pointing to his long, sable locks. "They know you're a guy once you turn around."

"I'd rather not," he replied.

Just then they pulled up in front of Muston's, and Mia dropped the argument. The store was run by the man it was named after, along with what most people assumed were his wife and two sons. But by the way Aimee acted, Mia wasn't so sure about her relationship with Muston, which in turn threw his relationship with Jorge and Daniel into uncertainty as well. The whole group was little odd, the one time she'd asked Ike about it he'd shrugged and said, "Don't think about it too hard."

Mia had taken the advice.

"There's your holster," Soren said, coming inside after feeding the meter, "but I don't see Shinon anywhere."

"He hasn't come in today," Daniel said, poking up from behind the counter. "He said he wouldn't be in until his rifle was ready for pick-up."

"I thought so," Soren said. "Anyway, Mia needs something."

"Oh?"

Soren wandered off as the young man turned to Mia, who was examining the hand guns behind the display case. Meandering down an aisle, his eye caught a mirror on one of the shelves. Aside from a pawn shop, Muston's always had the oddest things. Picking it up, he examined himself before turning as far to the left as possible, trying to get a look at his profile. After a moment he set it back down, he most definitely did not need a haircut.

"Ready to go?"

Soren turned to Mia, who was waiting at the end of the aisle, a small paper bag in hand.

"Yes, are you sure _you're_ ready? I'm not coming back here if you forget something."

Mia nodded, "Yeah I'm done. Besides, I want to find Shinon before we have to go back for dinner."

She spun around and headed for the door, Soren lagging behind as he walked slowly out of the shop.

"Bye!" Daniel called, waving at the pair as they headed out onto the sidewalk.

Soren raised a hand in acknowledgment before looking at Mia. "Well, what now?"

"That way," she answered, pointing towards the heart of the city.

She set off, stopping every once in a while to look at something in a window as Soren caught up, and eventually passed her. Then she would race ahead, stop, and he would pass her again. They leapfrogged like this down the sidewalk for half an hour until Soren stopped at a crosswalk, looking at his watch.

"Mia, it's quarter to, we're going to be late for dinner."

"But we haven't found him yet," Mia said offhandedly, taking care to step on only the white stripes as they traversed the crosswalk.

"He probably went home," Soren pointed out. "Like any normal person would after wandering around for thirty minutes with nothing to do."

"I'm okay with being abnormal, let's go until we find him."

Soren ran a hand through his hair and then over his face. "We might as well get something to eat, there's never anything left when it's Oscar's night to cook."

Mia smiled, "All right, but let me pay since you drove."

"I never said I was going to pay," Soren replied.

"Good, because you're not. Let's go to Calill's," Mia offered.

The corner of Soren's mouth turned down as he asked, "Calill? I thought they ran the pub together. And besides, didn't they name it after Ike?"

"Oh whatever," Mia answered. "Boyd calls it Largo's, I call it Calill's. Potato potahto, let's go. "

Soren shrugged. "All right, that's fine with me. I'll have to order a world-class Panini or some other nonsensical dish."

Mia laughed, "Come on Soren, don't be mean."

"I'm quite serious, that was what I ordered the last time we were there."

"Oh."

Mia was silent as they walked the three blocks to Ike's Place. As they entered the pub, she felt a tug on her jeans. Looking down, she found Amy looking back up at her.

"Hello Amy! Where are your mom and dad?"

"In the back, they said I'm hostess for the afternoon," the girl answered. Her diction still surprised Mia every time she heard her speak.

Amy continued, "Do you want to sit with Shinon?"

Mia's head snapped up as she scanned the room. After a minute she found him in a corner. And he wasn't alone.

"No," Mia answered slowly. "Can you get us a table on the _opposite_ side of the room?"

Amy nodded, "Yeah, I wouldn't sit with him either. Just a minute."

Mia turned to Soren as Amy walked off. "Is that…Tanith?"

"Yes," Soren answered, whose expression showed mild interest as he watched Shinon.

"What's she doing in Crimea? And with Shinon, of all people?"

"I don't know," Soren answered, "and I'm not so sure we'll find out. Let's go, it looks like our table is ready."

Soren crossed the dimly lit room, Mia following behind, trying not to look directly at Shinon until they had sat down. As she sank into the chair she shook her head. "It makes no sense. I thought he'd be looking at scopes, not going on a…a…"

Soren finished for her, "A date? I doubt it. It's probably some sort of business."

"What could they possible—oh look!"

"I _am_," Soren said pointedly, watching as Shinon dug through his bag and produced a slender, gift wrapped box.

The man handed it to the Holy Guard's deputy commander, who looked at it for a moment. Then she smiled slyly and leaned forward, her face disappearing from view behind Shinon's profile. A second later he turned a light shade of red and backed away. He said something, too quiet to hear from across the room, and Tanith laughed. Then she stood, said something in response, and walked away. Shinon stared at his half-empty glass of beer for a while, and then too rose, tossing a bill on the table before leaving.

As the door to the pub closed, Mia turned slowly to Soren, her mouth agape.

"She-she…she _kissed_ him!" she sputtered.

"She could have done any number of things, kissing Shinon being the last thing on that list," Soren answered, swirling the drink that had arrived while they were watching the interaction.

"Come on," Mia said, taking a sip of her soda. "She leaned in after he gave her a present, did _something_, and then he turns beet red. Then he stares at his drink for a while, which is still half-full, and leaves. They were on a date."

"Strangest way to end a date I've ever seen. Besides, it's a moot point, we couldn't hear what they said and if you ask Shinon he'll deny it ever happened."

Mia's eyes narrowed and she stared at the loaf of bread in the center of the table. Soren sighed, he knew that look. She wasn't going to let this go, but at least they could go home after dinner.

As their food came, Mia spoke up, "Where do you think Tanith is staying? She's got to be in town for something other than Shinon, if we find her I bet she'd tell us what's going on."

"Probably the Melior Spire. And I doubt she's 'in town for Shinon'."

"We should go there after dinner," Mia said matter-of-factly.

"We should not, and will not," Soren answered firmly. "I only put an hour and a half in the meter, our little escapade ends after dinner."

Mia frowned and looked away, she wasn't going to give up, even if today was a loss.

"I'm going to ask him anyway. And I'm sure Mist will want to know what's going on, I'll see if she wants to look for Tanith tomorrow."

"Mm," Soren muttered, biting into his sandwich. "You can do that, but drop it for now. There's nothing else you can do at the moment and I don't want to talk about it. We came, we found him, now we can go home. And you're not touching my computer."

"Fine. But I'm telling you there's something behind this."

Soren nodded and took a drink of his iced tea before speaking, "Yes there is, and it's something mundane and boring and probably a little irritating, just like Shinon. It is not, however, a date."

Surprisingly, Mia didn't answer. Instead, she had her food boxed up, stared at Soren until he was done eating, and dragged him out of the pub after leaving a twenty on the table.

The two walked back to the car in silence. As they neared the parking meter, Soren's phone went off.

"Yes?" he said, sliding in on the driver's side. "Downtown. She's with me. Now…not long. I know, I already ate. See you then."

"Who was it?" Mia asked, stifling a yawn as Soren pulled a U-turn and headed for the freeway entrance ramp.

Soren glanced over his shoulder as he merged into the light evening traffic. "Ike, he just got back and was wondering where we went, and he wanted to let us know Oscar made dinner."

Mia nodded and slouched in her seat, closing her eyes. A minute later her eyes snapped open, her hand going to the fingers that gently gripped her shoulder.

"Whoa, hey, just coming to wake you up."

She looked up into Ike's stern features, and then looked around. She was in Soren's car, parked inside the garage.

"I fell asleep? Where's Soren?" she asked.

"He went inside, you just got home a few minutes ago."

"Where's Shinon?"

Ike's eyebrow cocked. "Shinon? I don't know, inside somewhere. Probably in his room. Why?"

"No reason," Mia said, vaulting out of the car without opening the door and walking into the house.

Ike stared after her before following. One minute she was asleep, the next she was wide awake—there was never an in-between stage with Mia.

"Soren!"

Soren turned at his name and found Mia, looking down on him as he sat at his desk.

"Yes?"

"Come on, I need you for one last thing," she said.

"What is it?"

"Backup."

Soren closed the document and allowed himself to be dragged out of his chair for the second time that day, there was no winning this. He knew letting her sleep in the car would only prolong the inevitable. He followed her up the stairs to the second floor where Shinon and Gatrie shared a room. Mia knocked, and a minute later the door opened.

"What?" Shinon asked abrasively.

"You went on a date with Tanith didn't you," Mia said, pointing an accusatory finger in the taller man's face.

"What?" Shinon asked again, pushing away Mia's hand.

"We saw you, you were in Calill's with Tanith. You gave her a present and then she kissed you on the cheek."

"What?"

"What is _wrong_ with you?! You can't sit there asking 'what' like some idiot, I want to know what happened."

Shinon looked from one to the other before speaking, "You two stalked me after I went out?"

"No," Mia blurted. "We didn't stalk you. We just went downtown, stopped by Muston's, and went for a walk. We went to Calill's for dinner and saw you there! With Tanith! On a date!"

By now Ike had come upstairs to see what all the yelling was about, and he stared blankly at Mia, one hand latched onto Soren's arm, the other pointing at Shinon.

"Wait a second," Shinon said, crossing his arms as he looked down at Mia. "So you two went downtown, went on a walk together, and then went out for dinner? Alone?"

Mia paused for a moment before answering, "Yeah, so?"

Shinon laughed, that condescending half-laugh that got under everyone's skin so well. "Sounds to me like _you're_ the one who went on a date."

With that he stepped out, closed the door to his room, and headed down to the first floor.

"What?!" Mia sputtered, letting go of Soren and chasing after him.

When the ruckus of Mia shouting after Shinon had died down, Ike turned to Soren, who was staring thoughtfully at the closed door.

"You went on a date with Mia?" he asked, wondering what else he and Titania had missed while in Ohma.

At this, Soren turned and began to make his way down the stairs. "Huh...I suppose I did."

* * *

**R.I.P. Soren's character. And I think Mia's got a hit mangled here as well, but I loved it so _all is well in my world!_ I don't ship really, I didn't even realize what I was doing to these two until halfway through the chapter, and decided to go with it. Let me know if you liked it, or if you didn't, I had fun writing it at...three in the morning. So, drop me a review if you have the time, otherwise I'll see you next update.**

**Twilight Rurouni**


	4. Moving Day

**Okay, so this chapter was _strange_. I was having a great time writing it until the very last paragraph. Then I hit a wall and the fun disappeared. It was actually a bit draining, so I hope it didn't affect the chapter. **

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"And tell Shinon thanks for the scope. Tanith just dropped it off; I know it's special to him."

Oscar's smile widened as he watched Rolf through the webcam. "Sure, I'll let him know."

"And be…quiet about it," Rolf added, whispering on his end of the connection. "He probably won't want to let anyone know he sent it."

"Of course," Oscar nodded. "I'll be discreet about it, although--"

"Aug!"

Oscar was interrupted by a loud groan and a slamming door. He looked over his shoulder as Mia stalked through the room and collapsed in a chair. Mist followed her in, looking slightly amused.

"What was that?" Rolf asked, trying to peer around the on-screen Oscar.

"Mia. She saw Shinon with Tanith of all people, if can you imagine that," he said, winking into the camera. "That was two days ago and she's been trying to find out what they were up to ever since. She went out looking for Tanith's hotel yesterday and today, I'm guessing it didn't go well."

"No it didn't!" Mia called, from somewhere behind Oscar. "She checked out yesterday, we weren't even close."

Oscar shook his head, "That's too bad, I'm sure it's as Soren said though. It was probably nothing important. Rolf's on, you want to talk to him?"

"I do!" Mist cheered, putting her head next to Oscar's so the pair of faces barely fit together on-screen. "Hi Rolf! How's the Academy?"

Rolf smiled back, "Good, I should graduate this May with Astrid. We can come home together then. Oh, and Rhys should be arriving on tomorrow morning's nine-thirty flight with Gatrie."

"Oh good! I've been wanting to talk to Rhys about something," Mist replied, gently pushing Oscar off-screen so she could sit in the swivel chair.

After a moment Rolf's face lit up. "Oh, happy anniversary! I hope everything went well…"

"Aw thanks! And yes it did," Mist answered, laughing at the apprehension in his voice. "Boyd got me some clothes from Serenes Forest, I couldn't believe it. _And_ they go with my wardrobe. I think he had some help, but it was still sweet. What's even better is how he gave them to me."

"What'd he do, make you go on a treasure hunt?" Rolf asked, stifling a laugh.

"No, just the opposite, and that's what surprised me. We were getting ready for dinner at Ashera's Terrace--"

"Whoa, you mean Ashera's Terrace on top of the Melior Spire?"

"Yes," Mist answered, then continued. "Anyway, we were getting ready and I was wondering, aloud, what I should wear. Usually he just shrugs and says I look nice in anything, but he said, 'How about the red sundress?' and of course I'm thinking 'I don't have a red sundress'.

Then I turned around to tell him, and he's standing there with this adorable red dress laid out on the bed."

"That's, um…" Rolf said, trailing off.

Mist's eyes narrowed. "Oh come on, be nice. I'm sure he agonized over how to give it to me. I'm surprised he didn't go overboard trying to be creative."

"Yeah, I know. It's harder for me though, he doesn't go out of his way to be nice to me," Rolf reminded her.

Mist was about to answer when a booming voice drowned out anything she might have said. "Hey, Rolf! Come on, we're going to be late!"

Rolf scowled over his shoulder. "Just a minute, this is important!"

"Aw yeah? Who you talking to? Girlfriend?"

"Sister-in-law, now leave me alone. I'll be there on time."

The voice laughed, "Ha! The same sister-in-law who's related to the famous Ike? You need to talk less, lemme see."

Another face crammed itself on-screen next to Rolf's. "Hey! I'm Rolf's roomie, he tells me you're the younger sister of Crimea's Hero, eh?"

Mist whispered to someone over her shoulder, and then looked back at the screen, trying to suppress a smile. Rolf noticed, and slowly backed away from the monitor as she answered, "Oh that's just a bunch of nonsense he likes to--"

At that instant Mist disappeared, replaced with Ike yelling into the microphone, "Rolf! I know you can hear me, get going before I come over there and drag your sorry behind to class myself!"

Rolf's roommate gave a shout and leapt away from the computer. Rolf could be heard laughing in the background, and Ike too allowed himself a lopsided smirk. "Seriously though, get to class Rolf."

"All right, talk to you later. And tell Mia she shouldn't stress over it too hard, I'm sure it wasn't anything interesting. Like an…engagement ring or something."

"What?!"

Mia shoved Ike out of the way as Rolf cut the connection. "Rolf! Do you know something?! Don't you dare—aug!"

She spun away from the computer and headed for the room she shared with Titania. As the door closed behind her Oscar laughed, "Oh Rolf. If this turns into something ugly, Shinon's not going to be happy with him when he finds out who started it."

"Don't worry, Mia can't be mad for long. She just…can't," Mist explained. "There's no other way to say it."

"We know what you mean. Now, let's get back to work," Ike said, shooing the group away from the computer. "We're moving into the castle tomorrow. Oscar, you're making dinner again so Mist can pack, and Soren, you're with me. We'll be packing for Rhys and Gatrie."

The group split off into factions as they moved throughout the house. It was only housework, but orders were orders.

"Ike, I thought you told Elincia we wouldn't be taking her up on the offer for at least another month," Soren said, following him into Gatrie and Shinon's room. And then, "Ug. This is…"

"Wow. We never should have let them room together," Ike finished, surveying the mess that covered the floor. Clothes were strewn across the room, a tower of magazines on the desk threatened to topple at any minute, and with the exception of a decidedly Gatrie shaped space on the bed there was nowhere to sit down.

"Where on earth does Shinon sleep?" Ike wondered aloud. He never bothered the company about their personal quarters as long as it didn't leak into the main parts of the house, but this was something else.

"Hammock," Soren answered, sliding a door open to reveal a nylon hammock spanning the length of the closet.

"No wonder he wanted the room with the walk-in closet," Ike muttered, looking around as he tried to decide where to start. Picking up a random pair of jeans, he cast Soren a dubious glance. "I'm not sure which of these are clean."

Soren shrugged as he began picking over the things on Gatrie's bed. "Only one way to find out."

"Goddess above," Ike sighed, then brought the material to his nose and sniffed. "It's clean…I think."

Soren held out a hand and Ike passed him the jeans, which he stuffed into a duffel bag. After a few silent minutes filled with the shuffling of clothes and an occasional gag from Ike, Soren looked around the room, searching for something.

"Ike," he said, nodded towards the farthest corner of the room. There, shrouded in unnatural darkness and what seemed to be a malevolent aura, was a pile of boxers.

"I'll burn that before I smell it," Ike said simply, and then grabbed the duffel bag off the bed. "We're done. Gatrie can buy new underwear when we get settled in."

"Mm," Soren agreed, giving the pile one last furtive glance before following Ike from the room. "Speaking of getting settled in, you never answered my question."

Ike walked down the hall, opening the door to Rhys' room as he answered, "Oh right, sorry. The sight of that room made it hard to think about anything else. But I tell that to anyone looking to hire for an extended period of time. Honestly, I don't know our schedule as well as I should--I like to make sure we have enough time to tie up any loose ends before starting something big like this."

Soren nodded in understanding, and then looked around Rhys' room. "Well. This is a nice change."

Ike had to agree, going from Gatrie and Shinon's room to Rhys' was like moving from a seedy college dorm to a monk's cell. Everything was in neat, orderly rows and even Ike could tell it was tastefully arranged. Soren meandered over to the dresser and pulled out the bottom drawer, revealing neat piles of grey briefs.

He turned to Ike. "Next come socks, t-shirts, shorts, long sleeves, and pants. Anything dressy will be in the closet."

He then pulled out the next five drawers, revealing socks, t-shirts, shorts, long sleeves, and finally pants. Ike walked over to the closet and slid the door to the side, not surprised when he found neat, hanging rows of dress shirts and slacks.

"Good guess," Ike said. "You have to love Rhys, so practical. Now, where are the ties?"

"Try pushing the shirts aside," Soren answered, as he removed the contents of each dresser drawer and stowed them in a large suitcase.

Ike did, and found himself looking at a blank wall. "Nope," he said, turning to Soren. "Nothing."

"No?" Soren replied, looking up from a pair a cargo shorts—he wouldn't have pinned Rhys as the cargo shorts type. He glanced around the room and then, "Ah, try the back of the door."

Ike smiled and shook his head. He walked to the door and closed it, revealing a rack of ties, along with a winter hat and scarf. Removing them all, he handed the bundle to Soren, who had moved onto a second suitcase.

"Ready to go?" Ike asked, picking up a stethoscope from the bedside table and examining the amplifier before setting it back down.

"Yes," Soren answered, using a foot to slide the suitcases towards Ike. "You carry these, the last time I tried carrying a bag for Rhys I threw out my shoulder."

Ike laughed, picking up a suitcase in each hand. "Rhys has a lot of stuff, at least it's organized."

"As if it would be anything else."

"Hey," Ike started, walking slowly down the hallway. "Not to press it, but did you _really_ go on a date with Mia?"

Soren sighed out his answer, "Mia is adamant. We apparently were _not_ stalking Shinon, and if we weren't doing that, then a date's really the only viable explanation."

"You're being facetious."

"Yes."

"I'll take that as a no."

"Please do."

Ike laughed as they entered the kitchen, setting the bags on the large oaken table in the center of the room. "Would you go find Shinon and see if he's packed yet? I need to go get Alondite from your girlfriend."

Soren ignored the jibe and made his way down the stairs to the lower level, where Shinon usually could be found if not in his room. Ike left the kitchen, knocking twice on the door to Mia's room.

"Yeah I found them," called a voice from inside the room, just before the door opened to reveal Mia holding a box of tampons. "Woops," she said, casually tossing the box over her shoulder. "Thought you were Titania. You need something, boss?"

"Titania went to get gas. And yeah, can I have Alondite back? Just for now."

"Sure," Mia said, opening the door a little wider as she kicked something under the bed.

Ike stepped in and looked around. It wasn't as organized as Rhys' room, but it was more relaxed as well. Titania's side had a bookshelf filled with volumes of all types, and her bed was neatly made as if she never slept on it at all. Mia's half was a bit more haphazard; the bed was only half made and a laundry basket full of clothes sat on a nearby chair. It actually looked a lot like his and Soren's room.

Mia went to the closet and as it opened Ike laughed--there were more daggers and hand guns than there were clothes. After a minute of looking over the collection Mia turned around. She went to the dresser and pulled out the top drawer, which was filled with boxer shorts. After a moment of feeling around, her hand came out with Alondite. The silver barrel gleamed as she handed it over the Ike.

"Glad to know you keep it so safe," Ike said, taking it from her. "If you just kept it in the _closet_, well, I don't know if I'd trust you with it."

Mia laughed, "You got what you came for, leave me alone and get out of here. I need to pack."

Ike nodded absentmindedly, examining the gun as Mia directed him towards the door. It was huge, an old model with only one other like it, and that particular gun never left Ike's shoulder holster. Ragnell and Alondite, named after the legendary swords in Begnion history. Ike found it hard to believe there were only two of these guns in existence, but they had yet to find another. It wasn't hard to see why there weren't very many though; the recoil was known to break wrists. He himself found his joints ached after a long day on the shooting range.

After a quick once over to make sure nothing was missing, Ike slid the gun into its holster and carefully packed it into his bag. Now all that was left to do was wait.

"Hey, did someone tell Rhys and Gatrie we're leaving as soon as they get back?" he asked, directing the question towards whoever happened to answer.

"If Rhys is paying attention his phone then yes," answered Oscar, stirring something on the stove before checking the oven. "I sent him an e-mail this morning before I called Rolf. They should be ready to go when they get here."

"Good, I'm going to call Elincia and let her know…"Ike said, trailing off as he took a cell phone from his pocket. After scrolling through the contacts for a moment he pressed the call button, hoping it was the right one. Elincia had four different numbers.

After several rings he heard, "Hello?"

"Elincia, this is Ike, just calling to let you know--"

"Hey this is Elincia, I can't take your call right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!"

The mirthful voice was clearly stifling a laugh and Ike rolled his eyes as the phone chirped in his ear. "Elincia," he repeated, trying not to let the smile on his face find its way into his voice, "You need a new voicemail. But at least I know I got your private number. Anyway, just calling to let you know we should be arriving tomorrow. Call me when you get this, if you don't have my number I know your uncle does."

Ike snapped the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket.

"Hey."

He turned to find Shinon, looking at him with baleful glare. "Did you mess with my room?"

"We just packed for Gatrie, that's all," Ike answered, sliding around the older man and heading for his own room.

"I could have done that, I don't want you in my room."

"Wow Shinon," Mist said as she descended the stairs, passing Ike on the way down. "You sound like a whiny teenager; Ike didn't touch your stuff. You should be happy, it looks a lot better in there, not that it could get much worse."

"That mess is Gatrie's, leave me out of it," Shinon countered. "I just saw my closet door was open."

"Was anything out of place?"

"…no."

"Then quit complaining."

Mist wandered off and Shinon followed, their argument continuing as Titania walked in the front door, a set of keys in hand. "Ike," she called, looking around the living room. "I filled up the SUV, it should be good for a while."

Ike's voice answered form the upper level, "Thanks, damage report?"

Titania laughed, "Sixty-two seventy-nine. Not as bad as last time."

"Oh, there you are," Mia interrupted, her head poking out from their room. "I pulled out all your clothes and put them on the bed, I didn't want to pack them up until you had a chance to look at everything."

"I'm sure it's fine," Titania replied, entering the room and looking over the piles of folded clothes on the bed.

After a moment she nodded. "Yeah, it looks good, thanks Mia…just one more thing." Going over to the nightstand, she picked up a small, framed photo. She looked at it, a shallow smile creeping onto her face. Her own face smiled back up at her from the photo, a much younger face, but hers just the same. Next to her stood Greil, a wide grin splitting his granite features, an arm around her shoulders.

"You and the commander?" Mia said, looking over her shoulder. "You look so young..."

"I was," Titania answered. "That was a month after I first met him. I was in Gallia, through the officer exchange program. I remember having this photo taken, we were at a judo seminar in the palace…it was during the lunch break. Look at us, sweat running down our faces. I was so tired, Greil put his arm around me to make sure I didn't keel over during the picture…I would have too."

"You look happy."

"Yes, that was one of the best days of my life, and not just because of that seminar. It was also the day I met Ike…"

Titania trailed off, and Mia quietly backed off. Titania rarely reminisced, but when she did Mia liked to disappear. Titania was so busy, it was good for her to take some time and reflect.

With a muted click Mia closed the door, bag in hand, and headed for the kitchen.

"Where's Titania?" Ike asked, looking up from his bag as she entered.

"Still packing, she'll be out in a bit," Mia answered, setting her duffel bag on the table.

"All right, just wondering…"Ike said absentmindedly, going back to his examination of the company's luggage.

After a moment Mia spoke up, "What are you doing anyway?"

"Making sure nothing is missing," Ike answered.

Mia pulled out a chair and sat down, straddling the seat and resting her chin on the back of the chair. The soft ticking of a clock on the wall filled the otherwise silent room, and Mia stared at Ike as he looked over the bags on the table. Finally, Ike looked up from the luggage.

"We should be all set, Titania's the only one we're waiting on."

Mia nodded slowly. "Mmkay."

"You look bored."

Mia's wide-eyed gaze didn't leave his face as she nodded again, drawing out her answer, "Uhhhh huh…"

Ike stared back for a while, slightly amused, before asking, "Want to go for a run?"

"We already went this morning," she answered, still spacing out at his face.

"We'll probably be too busy for it tomorrow morning."

Mia's lips pursed off to one side as her eyes rolled to the right—she was thinking. Then, "In that case, yes. Loser buys the next time we go to Calill's."

At that she sprang from the chair and headed for her room. Ike gave a half laugh, "Mia, do we always have to race? We can't ever just run?"

"Um…I don't think so, no," Mia called back. She sounded as if it wasn't her decision to make.

Ike paused for a minute, and then shook his head. Of course they couldn't just run, what had he been thinking? Mia never just _did_ anything; there was always a catch, a twist, some sort of condition.

"Yeah, didn't think so…enjoy it then. It'll be the last one for a while."

And if he thought about it, that's what he liked about her. The company didn't need another Soren, or Boyd, or Shinon. But Mia? Whether she kept them all from going insane, or becoming a little too sane, they definitely needed Mia.

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**Ugh. I just don't know anymore, I have no perspective on this thanks to all my overthinking. I can say that I was going for the rushed feeling that is "packing today for a trip tomorrow". Let me know what you thought, I'd really like to know. And also, how old is Ike at the end of RD? Twenty? I mean he couldn't have been older than seventeen in PoR, so three years later... Anyway, drop me a review if you have the time, otherwise I'll see you next update.**

**Twilight Rurouni**


	5. Minutiae

**An update, just because I can, and miss this site dearly.**

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Ike set his bag on the bed, sighing as he fell back into the downy comforter.

"Tired?" Soren asked, setting his own luggage on the bed opposite Ike's.

"No, just glad to be out of the car. I can't be tired; we have to meet with Elincia in twenty minutes."

"Who's we? And where?"

Ike sat up and ran a hand down his face. "There's a restaurant near the parliament building, I forget what it's called. We're meeting with Elincia and the Minister of Defense to discuss the contract. 'We' is you, me, and Titania."

Soren's expression twisted slightly, his tone carrying a hint of irritation."The MD?"

"Is there something wrong with him?"

"Besides having a penchant for stupid questions, not really. I had to work with him after the Mad King's War."

Ike laughed, if there was one thing Soren couldn't stand it was stupid questions. "Is he as bad as Skrimir?"

"_No one_ is as bad as Skrimir. This man just asks question that someone of his standing should not be asking. He went to Mainal University, and lacks the presence a man of his stature should have."

"Ah. Well then, I'll be on my guard. Let's get going, Titania's probably already waiting in the lobby."

The pair headed out the door and through the castle, which wasn't anything like the so-called castles of yore. It was more of a mansion, where Elincia lived when she wasn't at the parliament building. Ike and Soren made their way down a long hallway that ended in a balcony overlooking the lobby. Stairways wrapped around the outside of the room on either side, and as they descended to the main level Titania could be seen sitting on a wide couch.

"Titania," Ike called, walking towards the older woman as he and Soren reached the ground floor. "Ready to go?"

"Yes, but just barely," she answered.

"Something wrong?"

"Not really, but look at these banisters."

Ike turned to look at the banisters. They were long and wooden, made of Crimean Cherry, sloping around the outside of the room alongside the staircases.

"They're very nice…"

"Yes they are. According to Mia and Boyd, they're also absolutely perfect for sliding. I had to make sure neither of them would do anything of the sort while we were gone."

"They won't. Boyd's smarter than that, no matter what Shinon says, and Mia has some measure of self-control under all that impulse. It'll be fine."

"I hope so. Do you want me to drive?"

Ike reached into his pocket for the keys as he answered, "No, it's a short drive and the trip over wasn't that long to begin with."

"All right, I'm not going to ask twice. Traffic will be awful," Titania said, sliding in on the passenger's side as Soren climbed into the back seat.

"It always is in Melior. Elincia says you get used to it."

"Let's hope so," Soren added, gazing out the window as Ike backed out of their parking spot and made a left turn out of the lot. "This may wind up being one of our longer contracts."

Thirty minutes later, after being rerouted through a construction detour, the company SUV pulled into the parking lot of The Crimea House.

"The Crimea House?" Soren noted, as Ike wheeled around to the front entrance. "That's oddly humble. Elincia must have picked it out."

"She was the one who told me where to go, not sure if she picked it out though," Ike said, stopping in front of the walkway leading to the main entrance. "Get out, I'll find parking. Tell Elincia I'll be inside in a minute."

Titania and Soren hopped out, making their way up the front walk and through the double doors. It was five in the evening so the restaurant was still mostly empty. The hostess was leaning on the counter, talking to the bartender. She looked up as the doors closed and Titania smiled, waving her attention back to the bartender as the two headed for the tables in the back.

"There she is," Titania said, pointing out Elincia's graceful figure, perched upon her seat like she was on her throne and not a wooden chair. Next to her was a tall man, dressed in a black suit, a gold watch flashing at his wrist.

"Don't forget the MD," Soren added.

Titania's brow arched, but she ignored the comment as they neared the table.

"Titania, Soren," Elincia said with a quiet smile, "I'm pleased you were able to make it here on such short notice. This is Roman Pauvlo, the Minister of Defense, he wanted get this taken care of as soon as possible."

"Nice to meet you," Titania said, shaking the man's hand.

Soren ignored the greeting, his hands staying quite still in his lap. "We've met before."

"I'm sorry, I'd forgotten. Will Ike be joining us?" Elincia replied, having long since learned to ignore Soren's abrasions.

"Yes, he's still in the parking lot, he'll be here shortly," Titania answered.

"I don't blame him," Roman said, swirling his drink slowly, "that parking lot's packed like too many monkeys in a barrel."

Soren blinked slowly, and sat up a little straighter. "Yes. The lot's shared with the surrounding companies; it's how the zoning works downtown."

"Mm," the man nodded. "Ah look, here he comes now."

The group looked up to see Ike walking towards the table.

"Ike, good to see you again," Elincia said as he pulled out a chair and took a seat next to Titania.

Ike nodded, "As always Elincia. Shall we get down to business? Titania told me before we arrived that Mr. Pauvlo was in a hurry to get this done."

"Now just a minute," Roman laughed. "Slow down, get a drink and we'll place our orders. I'm in a hurry to get this done, but I do have the next few hours cleared for it."

Ike agreed, and the three ordered drinks. When Ike asked for "something caffeinated" Roman laughed, "What, can't hold your liquor Ike?"

A grating sigh sounded from Soren.

Titania smiled quietly, and Elincia betrayed a look of dismay before regaining her usual composure.

Ike looked at the man, "I turn twenty-one next week."

The man's smile disappeared, his expression blank. "Oh."

Ike was beginning to see what Soren had meant about lacking presence, this man should know everything about him.

"You're…mature, for your age," Roman sputtered. "Anyway, where's that contract, Elincia?"

"In your bag," she answered.

"Ah yes, my bag," he said, leaning to one side to retrieve the document.

"That's rather thin for this kind of contract, wouldn't you say?" Soren asked as Roman came up with a stack of papers.

"Yes well, it's fairly cut and dry, not too hard to figure out. You do this, we pay you that, end of story."

"May I see it?" Soren asked.

Roman consented, and Soren took the contract from across the table. He looked up after a moment.

"You wrote this?"

Roman nodded, and Soren looked back down at the page, lifting it to look at what lay underneath. "I see. Go ahead and eat, I'll be a while looking this over. In fact, it's rather loud in here; I'm going to go look this over somewhere else."

"The restaurants almost empty," Roman said.

Soren wordlessly stood up and left, his nose inches from the lines of black text.

"Soren gets stressed easily," Titania offered.

"I see, poor boy. Not all geniuses can handle their gifts so gracefully," he said with laugh.

"Sadly not," Titania agreed. Her smile was beginning to feel plastic.

Outside the restaurant Soren leaned against a pillar which supported the awning, the blare of rush hour traffic jams all about him.

"What?" he said, speaking into the cell phone at his ear. "I can't hear you, I'm in downtown Melior and it's noisy. I want to know if I can send something to you, see if it makes as little sense to you as it does me. Yes I do mean right now. Thank you. What? No heard you it's just…fine whatever, what kind? Alright. See you then."

Soren snapped the phone shut and let his head fall back against the pillar, staring up at the clear skies. After moment he pushed off the stone, looking for the SUV. Opening the back he climbed inside, where a small laptop was strapped to the floor, a miniature printer next to it. Turning on the computer and flipping up the top of the printer's scanner, he sent the documents through and sat back to wait. A few minutes later his phone began to vibrate.

"Yes? Yes I know, it's idiotic for the most part, but did you see that clause at the bottom of page four? Yeah it bothered me too, although I'm willing to chalk it up to incompetence on Pauvlo's part. Still, I don't want to sign it with that in effect…I'll see what I can do. Thank you. See you tomorrow."

Soren closed the phone again and climbed out of the vehicle, making his way back into the restaurant.

"Ah, there you are!" Roman said as Soren took his seat at the table. "We were wondering if you'd gotten lost out there."

"If only," Soren said, sliding his chair into place.

"I ordered for you," Titania said. "I think I know what you like."

"Thank you. Now, about this contract…"

Roman grinned, "Nothing wrong with it, I hope?"

"Clause twelve at the bottom of page four caught my attention, actually. We report to you for the duration of this job? Why? Elincia made the request, you're just mediating."

Roman's grin widened, and Soren glared. "Well, I am the Minister of Defense, and your job is training the new members of the Queen's Guard as well as the National Guard. It all falls under my jurisdiction, so you report to me, I think that wouldn't be hard to understand."

"I'd have less of a problem with it if it didn't seem slipped in. Everything else in here designates Elincia as the one responsible for us; this clause saddles her with the work but none of the authority."

Roman waved him off, "Syntax my boy, in the end it's all the same."

Soren closed his eyes, his head cocking to one side, "No…no. You see, the thing about syntax is that two words which seem to mean the same thing can actually take a contract in completely opposite directions because lawyers _make_ them mean opposite things. Therefore making sure the meaning of words is understood is important."

"So you're saying you have a problem with me pulling the strings?" Roman asked.

"Like I said, I have a problem with how that fact seems to have been slipped in, with the hopes that we wouldn't notice. It doesn't mention you by name, or even use your proper title."

Roman shrugged, "I can see how that might raise a red flag, but I can assure you it was not done on purpose. Will you not be taking the job after all?"

Soren was silent, and they all turned to Ike.

"No," he said after a moment, "but may we postpone on signing this? I'm sure Soren wants to look it over some more."

"Fine, but I will be not be free for some time," Roman replied. "So, you can deliver the contract to my department, but I will not be discussing changes to it. It's been a pleasure working with you again."

With that Roman stood up, placed a bill on the table and strode form the restaurant, leaving them sitting around a table full of empty plates, and Soren's untouched food.

"I'm sorry," Elincia offered, clearly upset, "that was rude, the matter of the contract aside."

Soren's expression was bitter. "No, I should have seen this coming; I walked all over him after the Mad King's War. He won this time, and wanted to get out of here before I turned it over on him."

"It was still unbefitting of his station," Elincia said. "Come, we'll get this figured out."

"No," Soren said, standing up and tossing his napkin onto the table. "Let's go. We're tired and I have meetings all day tomorrow. Besides that, it's getting late and I still have to go buy a ham."

Ike's brow furrowed and he mouthed a silent 'what' at Titania as they headed for the door.

She shook her head, and took the keys from Ike, "I don't know, but he's right about one thing; we're tired, especially you. I'm driving."

Ike willingly gave up the keys and the three made their way through the parking lot. He hadn't been planning on any problems, and he didn't like having to deal with them.

"And since I'm driving," she continued, "you get to deal with it when we get back to find Mia and Boyd have organized banister relays."

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**So yeah, hope you enjoyed it, and I have no speculations on future updates, if people even pay attention to my stuff anymore. Review if you feel so inclined.**

**Twilight Rurouni  
**


	6. Objection

**After quite the hiatus I'm back; I've suddenly found myself with lots of time to contemplate stories. I hope some of you are pleased with the return of this story, I will admit it was fun to write again. Here's chapter six, enjoy.**

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Soren looked at the clock on the wall, the second hand smoothly making its way around the face to overtake the hour hand, which pointed to the blank space between the seven and eight. He didn't like that. Second hands that didn't tick made it impossible to tell when one second transitioned into the next, despite the fact that such a transition was a human construct. Besides, it wasn't the clock that bothered him. He just needed something to focus on. Looking around the empty dining hall, breakfast food already set out on the table, Soren couldn't help being acutely aware that his meeting wasn't until much later that day. He needed something to engage him, a stimulating conversation perhaps.

"Mornin' Soren," Boyd yawned, entering the room.

Stimulation would have to come in the form of another cup of coffee.

"What's eating you?" Boyd mumbled around a blueberry bagel as Soren let out a sigh and pushed himself up from his chair.

"Is Oscar up yet?" he asked, not answering the question as he moved for the coffee pot.

"Um…" Boyd stalled, looking around the room for a clock. "No. He won't be up till eight."

Soren walked back to his chair and sat down, his eyes reflecting the glow of his laptop. That would be like Oscar, up at eight. A reasonable time. He probably went to bed at midnight too, a solid eight hours.

"What are you doing up so early?" Boyd asked.

"I'm always up at this time. I should ask what _you're_ doing up so early," he answered absentmindedly, sifting through case files.

Boyd rolled his shoulders, cracking his back as he answered, "Mist got me up at six, said I just _had_ to see the sunrise, and I couldn't get back to sleep."

"Mm. It must have come as a shock to you that the sun isn't simply birthed into the sky at ten o'clock every day…"

"Yeah," Boyd laughed, "I can't remember the last sunrise I saw."

Soren's eyes widened in exasperation and he looked away, talking with Boyd was smothering. Thankfully, his attention was quickly diverted as a blur of orange and purple raced into the room.

"Morning!" Mia chirruped, grabbing two muffins and cramming one into her mouth. She immediately picked up another.

Soren's brow rose slightly as her took her in. She was dressed in orange, plaid flannels and a purple tank top, her face blackened with what could only be gun powder.

"Mia, what have you been doing since that unholy hour you have your alarm set for?"

She gave him a look as she swallowed, "You mean six? I was cleaning my guns."

"Ah."

That explained it. Whenever Mia cleaned her firearms the powder just migrated from the mechanisms to her face; there was never any on anything else.

"What have you been doing?" she asked, coming over to the table and bending over his shoulder to look at the computer screen.

"Nothing that would interest you. Where's Ike? He's usually with you until at least nine."

Mia's expression soured briefly, "I don't know, he isn't practicing with me for a while; at least until we get settled into some kind of routine here. He's probably with Titania, I think he said they were going to be interviewing people today."

"Then he'll probably be gone all day," Soren said, more to himself than Mia.

"What are your plans?" she asked.

"I have a meeting to attend at five. Otherwise, nothing."

"What's the meeting for?"

"I'm going over our contract."

"With who?"

"Nobody. Are you quite done asking questions?"

Mia straightened, her eyes rolling down to look at him as she considered it for a moment before answering, "For now."

Soren would take that.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ike stood on the balcony next to Elincia, overlooking the large mats in the training room where men dressed in padding and athletic equipment were fighting.

"What's Geoffrey think about all this?" he asked.

She looked at him, unsure for a moment what he was referring to. "What? Hiring you? He's relieved; he was nearly paralytic when I first mentioned I might have to go until sometime next year without a true security detail. And besides that he likes having you around, although you aren't likely to see much of him. He and Lucia have been so busy lately."

"Doing what?"

"Things I'd be much surer of if I took the time to deal with that mountain of paperwork accumulating on my desk…"

Ike nodded, "I know that feeling. Let me know if I can help, or rather Soren. He loves deconstructing other people's legal mumbo jumbo, makes it sound like a two-year-old wrote it."

"Oh does he," Elincia smiled, "Our best lawyers reduced to scribbling toddlers?"

"Scribbling in crayon, I might add."

Elincia covered her mouth as she laughed quietly, returning her attention to the men below, "Send him over later this week then; I'd love to spend some time with him. In the meantime, though, why don't we get started on what we're here for?"

Ike acknowledged her suggestion by crossing his arms and falling silent, staring intently at the men going through drills on the mats.

"The problem," he started, "is finding men like Geoffrey. He was so…attached. It's a shame he was taken off the service and moved to the military."

"He's still very much dedicated," Elincia said, smiling as she looked out from the balcony.

Ike eyed the ring on her finger, "Yes well, I don't think we want to find anyone who's _quite_ that dedicated. Lucia was as well, I wish she hadn't been moved to internal affairs. It was more than just a job for those two; it's more than just a job for us. For those men, though…most are wrapped up in the reality that it's nothing more than what has to be done."

"So we need men who are idealistic, is that what you're saying?" Elincia asked.

"Yes, actually," Ike said, "Although saying it like that sounds bad. It's the difference between Kieran and Shinon."

"Putting it that way, I see what you mean."

Kieran had nearly died several times during the wars, usually as a result of overextending himself for "queen and country," as he liked to say.

"Yes," Ike continued, "and I didn't say that just to make a point. Kieran's enlistment will be up in a few months, I'm sure he would be happy to head your new security detail instead."

"Are you sure? As much as he loves his country, asking him to commit to such a demanding job may be a bit much."

"He's going to reenlist anyway, and I know he'd rather be doing something he can see the effects of. That's why he was so reliable in the wars; he could see what he was fighting for."

Elincia paused, and then, "What is he, now?"

"A lieutenant, I think," Ike answered.

Elincia tilted her head, "Only? I thought he have been promoted to something much higher by now. I'm sure he will if he reenlists."

"Oh no," Ike said, understanding now what she was getting at, "You're right, he could be much higher by now; he keeps turning down promotions. Trust me, heading your detail will be the best thing that's happened to him since he took that bullet for Reyson."

Elincia frowned, "That sounds awful."

Ike laughed under his breath, "You have no idea how happy that made him, saving one of those three."

"If you're sure then I would love for you to ask him," she consented, "I do admit there are few others who would do a better job."

"Great," Ike smiled, "Having him will make it much easier to instill the other members with a sense of duty."

Elincia smiled back and then asked, "Is that it? If all you needed to ask about was Kieran then we could have done this elsewhere."

"You're right, I'm actually going to be conducting interviews most of the day with Titania. I just wanted to come up here to take a look at one man in particular before we started," he said

"Who?"

"You'll know when you see him."

Elincia's eyebrows arched with intrigue, and she examined the men below for a familiar face.

"Is that…is that Brom?" she asked after a moment.

Ike laughed, "Almost, it's one of his sons, I knew you would find him though. Looks just like him, doesn't he?"

"Truly," she answered. "I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I thought perhaps Brom had decided he liked the soldier's life after all."

"No, he's still in Ohma, but if his son is anything like him then I won't mind a bit."

"No, I can't say I would either…I wonder, do you think he has any pet rocks?"

Ike laughed, not believing he had just heard Elincia take a jab at Brom, albeit a good natured one, "I don't think so, but I'll ask for you."

"You wouldn't!" Elincia said, eyes widening as Ike turned to walk from the balcony. "I was entirely joking!"

And that was the point, Ike thought, opening the door for Elincia. It was good to see she had finally begun to relax; a miracle after the madness of two wars in the past five years, both of which could have ruined Crimea.

"Of course not," he smiled.

Things were finally returning to normal.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Soren picked up his jacket and slung his briefcase case over his shoulder, grabbing his keys on the way out of the room he shared with Ike. It was finally time for his meeting, and after an afternoon of going over case files with Boyd and Mia constantly hovering, he was about ready to snap. Days off just meant more distractions in his book.

"Where are you going?" Titania asked, coming up the stairs as Soren reached the end of the hallway.

"Out. I have a meeting. Where's Ike?" he answered, stopping at the top step.

"He's finishing the interviews; I came back early to set up a shift schedule for Elincia's detail. It starts tomorrow."

"Good," he said, starting down the stairs, "Make sure Mia and Boyd are not on the same detail. I couldn't stand them both having the same days off."

Titania smiled knowingly, "I was going to anyway, but you know Mia hangs around you so much because you ignore her, don't you? She feels like she needs to include you, although I doubt she knows it."

"I'm aware," was all Soren said before waving her off. "I'll be back late."

"I'll let Ike know," Titania said, watching him go. Yes, that was Soren, acutely aware of _everything_. She turned and made her way down the hall, promising herself she would be there the day Soren got blindsided.

Soren exited the palace and headed for his car, throwing his briefcase in the passenger seat as he got in. Flipping open his cell phone, he scrolled through his recent calls and pressed send.

"Hello?" came a voice from the other side, clearly audible in the silent, warm interior of the car.

"Hey, I'm just leaving now, I should be there in-"

"Who is this?"

Soren's eyebrow cocked and he looked at the phone, making sure he had called the right person before pressing it back up against his ear, "Soren. Why don't you have me in your contacts?"

"Oh! Soren, I'm already here, and I don't know, I just never thought about it. I have very few people in my phonebook."

"Well add me. I'll be there soon."

"Mkay."

He flipped the phone shut and started the car.

"That woman," he muttered, pulling out into the rush hour traffic.

Stopping at a red light he glanced at the car next to him, and then did a double take. Roman Pauvlo was in the driver's seat, talking on his cell phone. He didn't look too happy. As he mouthed silent words, Soren looked more closely, trying to read his lips around the hand which held the phone. Roman glanced in his direction, and then back up at the light; thankfully Soren's windows were tinted. He half-smiled as a conversation with Mist the year before ran through his head.

"_You're getting a car?"_

"_Yes." _

"_Well make sure you get tinted windows."_

"_Mhm. Why?"_

"_So people won't stare at you at stoplights, it's so creepy to look over and find someone looking at you." _

"_I'll consider it."_

Thankfully it worked both ways, Soren thought as the light turned green and Roman sped off. It was a little weird, though. He never told Mist, but he'd ignored her advice and ordered regular windows. The dealer had just made a mistake, and she'd been so happy, about windows of all things, when the car arrived he didn't tell her what happened.

He flipped open his phone again as he accelerated and sent Mist a text message, "_Windows were useful._"

Setting the phone down again, his thoughts centered on Roman. Being the Minister of Defense he probably had a lot of things that made him not too happy on a regular basis, but Soren couldn't shake the feeling that this had something to do with their meeting. The thing was, any problem Roman had and managed to get fixed would undoubtedly become Soren's.

He looked down as his phone vibrated, opening it before it could finish alerting him.

"_Haha, thnx, told you."_

"You certainly did," Soren said, looking up as he approached the one way streets of downtown Melior.

A few minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of a small, hole-in-the-wall pub. There were never more than three cars in the lot, which was a good thing since it had only seven spaces. Getting out, he walked across the lot and through the front door, the man behind the counter nodding at him as he entered. The room was small and 'L' shaped as one walked in, the bar running left to right across the shortest part of the room. Soren's gaze landed on a nearby chair, the back of which was painted with a bright, grimacing sun, its tongue sticking out. No matter how many times he came here, Soren thought, he would never get used to the décor.

"I'm meeting someone," he said, looking up, "She was supposed to be here before me."

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen. Wanted her food made special," said the man, not looking up from his work. "She's at the table all the way in the back."

"Thank you."

Soren headed down the length of the room, finding at its end a table with two glasses of water and a purple purse made of clothe on the floor. A yellow jacket hung on the back of the chair.

Soren sighed, set his briefcase on the floor, and turning toward the kitchen called in a mildly invested tone, "Illyana?"

A minute later a short, delicate woman came out through the swinging doors, her hair falling down past her shoulders in large, natural curls. She was wearing a purple skirt and white blouse, and as usual appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

"Soren, there you are," she said, a small smile appearing on her normally somber face. "Did you know they have deep fried zucchini here?"

"Yes. It's a novelty to be sure."

"And delicious. How are things at Greil Securities?"

"I gave you the update yesterday, besides you should know from that fax I sent you," Soren answered.

Illyana looked down, "Oh, yes, I suppose. But how is everyone? Does Oscar still do the cooking?"

Soren shook his head, "No, he usually doesn't have time. We're very busy."

"Such a shame…"

"Yes. Now, can we get to the matter at hand?" Soren asked, taking a seat and pulling a neat file of papers from his briefcase.

"Did you bring it?" Illyana asked, taking her own seat.

"It's right…oh, that. Yes it's in my car, on ice. I wasn't going to bring an entire ham into a restaurant."

"Oh good."

Soren paused, watching a true smile take over Illyana's normally mute features. He considered asking if it was Christmas ham she liked or any ham in general, but knowing full well he would get an actual answer he restrained himself.

"Now, as you said it's really only what's here at the bottom of page four which worries me, aside from what it is in general," he said, folding pages back and handing it to Illyana.

She took it and read it over again, tilting her head as she did.

"It's not even that confusing, which is the strange part," she said, handing it back, "it's just short. If he wanted to try and get it by unnoticed I'm sure he would have done a better job."

"Exactly. So then, does he expect us to draw any but one conclusion from, 'in this matter Greil Securities and employees of which will be directly subordinate to the Minister of Defense, Roman Pauvlo; the command of which is only to be superimposed by Queen Crimea so long as her general health and mental state allow her to rule'?"

"I don't think so. Basically it says Elincia gets to handle all the boring, everyday stuff, but in the case of an emergency and Elincia being unable to make sound decisions Roman takes over control," Illyana answered, taking a bite out of the steak which had just been set before her.

"And there's really no other way to take it. Roman has a lot of control if the situation swings the right way," Soren said, waving off the chef when asked for his order. He knew Illyana would eat enough for the two of them.

"It is unsettling," Illyana mused. "If only it weren't a blood pact."

Soren flipped to the final page, his face darkening.

"I still can't believe he would do this," he said, "After all the trouble they caused. I wouldn't have called you if it weren't for that. The idea of them is so ludicrous, they need to be stricken from the legislative and judicial systems."

"Well," Illyana said, "in their defense they weren't a bad theory. It saves the trouble of long court cases and sentencing upon their infraction. You break the pact, and judgment is already passed."

"Yes, but in reality that judgment is terrifying," Soren answered, "violators to be punished in equal measure to the magnitude of the infraction, as decided by the pact holder? It's turned into a blank check. If their use in the past wasn't so corrupt they would still be manageable, but legal precedent has turned them into a license to do anything at all. Homicide can and has been recorded as capital punishment thanks to these."

"Genocide almost…" Illyana said.

Soren looked at her, silent for a moment, and then, "A person's sense of justice warps under these contracts. It's too tempting to abuse them."

"I agree, but what are you going to do about this?"

"I'm not sure. Elincia needs us, but Roman won't have it if this isn't signed, and it wouldn't be a blood pact if he wasn't determined to keep it that way."

"You can't change it, and you can't tell Ike," Illyana said, grasping the situation.

Soren shook his head, "No, he wouldn't sign a blood pact, none of us would. I'm not here so you can tell me to sign it, but so we can figure out how not to and keep the job."

Illyana smiled, picking at her food as she thought, and then looked up, "We need a loophole."

"If only…" Soren said, not looking up from his perusal of the contract.

"Sign it," Illyana said. "Don't tell them, and have them sign it."

"What?"

"You're making a big deal out of this, and it doesn't have to be. There have already been two wars, everyone is busy rebuilding, there's no one to cause trouble."

"Bad luck comes in threes," Soren countered. "We're not signing this."

"The loophole is spelled out right in front of you though."

"Illyana, I've been over this dozens of times and it's written in the simplest language possible for such an important contract; there's no loophole."

"The simplest of all loopholes for the simplest of language…" she said, more to herself than Soren.

Soren looked at her, and then down at the contract. His eyes narrowed.

"That's bold, Illyana."

"Not really. Legal precedence says otherwise."

Soren set the file down and rubbed his temples. Was he really going to do this? If something went wrong… No. Nothing would go wrong. And if it did, Illyana was right. They could worm their way out it.

"Thank you," he said, rising from his seat as Illyana finished her food.

"Anytime…call if you need me. You're in my phonebook now."

"I don't think I will be, but I'll keep it in mind. Come on, let's go out to my car," he said, folding his jacket over his arm. It was much too hot out to wear it.

Illyana left a bill on the table and collected her things, following him out of the pub.

"Here it is," Soren said, arriving at his car, "your…consultant fee."

Illyana took the cooler, "Thanks Soren. And don't worry, everything works out. It always did, always will."

At that she left, mounting a small yellow scooter Soren hadn't seen, parked behind the only other car in the lot.

Yes, Soren thought, watching her figure grow small, nothing would go wrong. Nothing could. At least not for them.

* * *

**Things fall into place, I do hope it intrigues you. I'm looking forward to your thoughts after such a long absence, and it would be nice to know how this chapter read. The last was a little slow out of necessity for the story's sake, I'm hoping this wasn't as slow though. Reviews would be lovely, otherwise see you next update.**

**Twilight Rurouni  
**


	7. Perspectives

_Here's chapter seven in the continuing AU adventures of the Greil Mercenaries. I took a bit of a different tact with this one._

**

* * *

**

"So how's the roommate?" Shinon asked, leaning back in the swivel chair and watching Rolf's face on the monitor.

"Eh, he's okay," Rolf answered, fiddling with a pencil and watching Shinon shrink away from the computer screen.

"Not good though?"

"You remember Tormod?"

"Ugh. That kid's learning curve was criminally slow."

"He just wouldn't take hints, and my roommate's like that. It gets on my nerves sometimes, but it's just for the year and I want to be nice; I can deal with it. How's everyone back at home?"

"Feh, they're fine. We're just taking turns following Elincia around like a pack of lost puppies; it's boring but she pays well."

Rolf gave him a critical stare, "Shinon, that's an important job. It involves a lot of sitting around, but after what's happened in the past five years I can't believe even you would be so obstinate."

"Oh don't you start on me too," Shinon said, crossing his arms as he stared dully at monitor, "I've got enough trouble without _you_ giving me lip."

"I'm just saying. Anyway, I used the scope yesterday at the shooting range, it's so much better than the ones they issue."

Shinon smirked and sat up, "Big surprise there, what are they issuing these days? A cardboard tube with two pieces of glass in either end?"

Rolf laughed, "Not quite, although I'm sure it's the same thing you used back in the day."

"Hey I'm not that old," Shinon replied, his brow wrinkling, and then, "Shoot, I hear voices, they must be back early. I gotta go, I dodged security duty with Boyd by saying I was sick, talk to you later."

"Yeah I have class soon anyway, talk to you later Shinon."

Shinon nodded absentmindedly and then the image cut out, leaving Rolf staring at his computer desktop. He sighed, and pushed himself back from the desk; he really didn't have class for another two hours. Looking at his laptop he reached out, bringing up the document file he had on a tab on the taskbar. He watched the cursor at the top of the white screen, blinking next to the words 'Mob Psychology' and then shut the laptop. He didn't feel like doing his homework.

Getting up from his chair he kicked a pair of his roommate's boxers towards the laundry hamper, not bothering to pick them up when they fell short of the target. He should really make him clean up his half of the room, but Rolf didn't want to start anything.

Picking up his key and I.D. card, Rolf headed out the door and towards the main part of the campus. He still had to log some time at the shooting range, might as well get it out of the way.

"Rolf, Rolf!"

"Or maybe not," Rolf sighed, turned as his roommate came running towards him.

"Hey Ross, what's up?"

"You have to see this girl at the café! She's so cute, I think I'm going to ask her out."

"I'm actually going to the shooting range; I need to get another hour in this week."

"What?" Ross said, looking confused, "No no no, I need you to be my wingman!"

Rolf closed his eyes and brought a hand to his forehead, "Does she have a friend or something?"

Again, Ross looked confused, "No, why?"

"Do you even know what wingman means?"

"Yeah, they give moral support."

"Cause two guy getting together to ask one girl out isn't creepy at all," Rolf muttered, and then, "All right whatever, let's go."

Ross nodded his head, "Yesss. Thanks so much."

"I do what I can."

As they walked across the sunny campus Rolf looked around, watching students lounge under trees on the lawn. It was Thursday and many of them probably didn't have Friday classes.

"Ross, how many credits are you taking?" he asked.

"Twelve, why?"

"Just wondering. You seem to have a lot of free time."

"Hey twelve's full time! It just seems like I have a lot of free time because you're so busy."

"I guess," Rolf nodded. It was true though, he had to take eighteen credits per semester if he wanted to graduate in the spring.

Walking into the university's food court, the two headed for the café.

"Where is she?" Rolf asked, looking around the nearly empty room.

"Behind the counter," he answered, his eyes locked on the girl at the register.

"Oh wow," Rolf said, surprise in his voice. "Yup, she's pretty cute. Now why am I here again?"

"Because I don't know what to say man!"

Rolf looked at the girl, pursed his lips as he tried not to smile, and then back at Ross, "I'd say something cool."

Ross's eyes lit up, "Yeah that's what I was thinking! Like…like…like when I go up, and she asks me what I want, I was thinking I should say, 'I dunno, I don't see anything I want, unless you're on the menu,' or something, you know?"

Rolf's eyes widened, and he smacked Ross on the shoulder, "I'm not good with girls, but I'd probably go with that. See, you didn't even need me."

Ross exhaled, "Right right. Okay, here goes."

Rolf's jaw slackened and he covered his mouth, concealing silent laughter as Ross walked up to the counter. Listening to the distant dialogue, Rolf suddenly felt bad. At the same time though, he didn't want it to be his fault if any girl wound up with Ross. Especially that girl.

Rolf's expression grew serious as Ross turned around and walked back.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

Ross blinked, frowning slightly, "I'm not sure."

"What did she say?"

"Oh. Just like that, 'Oh,' and then she stared at me. I'm not sure she got it."

"Well don't let it get to you," Rolf said, "She looks like a senior so she's probably graduating this year anyway, and then where would you be?"

Ross nodded, "Yeah, I guess so. Good point. Anyway, I'm going to class, see you later Rolf."

"Bye."

Rolf watched him go and then turned back around, walking towards the girl at the counter. As he approached she looked up; a puzzled expression still lingered on her face from the encounter with Ross. Seeing Rolf though, she smiled, her eyes brightening.

"Hey!"

Stopping at the counter Rolf looked across at her and smiled back, inhaling slowly before replying.

"Hey Nephenee."

Her smile widened, "I did not know you went here Rolf!"

"I didn't know you went here either," Rolf answered, noting her accent was gone. "I thought you went back to Ohma after the war?"

"I did, but then I found out the government would pay for college, so I thought why not?"

"They paid for Mainal?" Rolf asked. "That's expensive, the only reason I'm here is because they're the only place around with the program I need."

Nephenee looked down, "Yeah well, I think Elincia had something to do with that…"

"Hey that's a good thing," Rolf said, "What are you here for?"

"Speech pathology and linguistics," she said.

Rolf shook his head, "Wow. That sounds confusing. Does it have anything to do with you losing your accent?"

Nephenee looked around before answering quietly.

"I didn't. I'm tryin' though," she said, slipping back into her country accent, "It's so hard, I hafta' think about everythin' I say _and_ how I say it. I'm actually tired by th'end of the day just from that."

"I don't blame you, that's a lot to think about. I'm sure it'll be natural eventually though, you've only been here since the beginning of this year right?"

"Yeah, only for a month and a half now," she said, changing back to what Rolf considered 'normal' speech; although he'd been told once he and everyone else from the company said their 'a's funny. He furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes rolling off to one side as he recalled the memory before looking back at Nephenee.

"Same here," he replied.

"Well how long do you have before class?" she asked, "I am out in half an hour, if you do not mind waiting it would be great to talk to someone from home."

"Me too," Rolf said, "and I don't mind."

"Great, do you want anything while you wait?"

"No I'm fine. I'm not much of a coffee drinker," Rolf said, moving aside for the man who'd got in line behind him.

Sitting down, he watching as Nephenee talked with the man and then turned to make a latte. He wondered what it was like to be able to speak in an accent at will; was there some kind of mental switch she threw? Looking out the window he rested his elbow on the table, placing his chin in an upturned palm. The day had certainly taken a turn for the better.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Oh!" Nephenee said, sitting up in her chair, "I wish I had known Gatrie and Rhys were here! I would have liked to say hello."

"Well they left last week so it's not like you just missed them," Rolf answered, looking at her from across the circular coffee table, "They'll be back to pick me up in May though, so you can say hi then. Or at least someone from the company will be here."

"Good, I miss everyone. How are Boyd and Mist doing?"

"Fine, they had their first anniversary a week after I left for school."

Nephenee nodded, "That's right, they had an August wedding…it was such a pretty ceremony."

"I do have to admit Boyd did a good job picking out the flowers," Rolf replied.

"_Boyd_ picked them out?" Nephenee asked.

"Ha, no! Gotcha! Boyd didn't have anything to do with the coordinating, Oscar and I helped with that."

"See that makes more sense. Boyd seems like he would be more likely to help pick out the food."

"Yeah," Rolf conceded, "he did. Actually, the wedding was the last time I saw you, now that I think about it. How are you?"

Nephenee shrugged, "Well I was only home for a few months before Elincia called to let me know about going to university. I talked with my family, and they said since they handled the farm while I was gone during the war they could handle it if I went to school. After that it was kind of a waiting game until the next fall semester."

"That's cool, are you the first in your family to go to college?" Rolf asked.

"Shoot no!" Nephenee laughed, "My dad has a degree in agronomy and crop science, and plant breeding."

Rolf grimaced, "Well, excuse me while I remove my foot from my mouth…"

"Do not worry about it, a lot of people think like that, probably because it is true. Not a lot of people in Ohma have gone to college really, just my parents and one of Brom's sons. And I am definitely the first to go to Mainal."

"So how many credits are you taking?" Rolf asked.

"Sixteen, pretty normal from what I hear."

"It's still four more than full time; it'll keep you busy. It's too bad I never stopped in here before though! I could have spent the last month and a half hanging out with you instead of…well no one really, I'm pretty busy, but still."

"I know, and it is hard to meet people here. They are all so important."

"Hah, no, see they just _think_ they're important. If you go to Mainal you're either a genius who got a full ride, or a war hero I suppose," he said, nodding toward Nephenee, "or your parents paid for it all, and fifty-thousand dollars is an abstract concept since you've never had to work for money."

"You sound like Shinon," she said.

Rolf started to protest and then stopped, "I—huh… I do, wow. He did say that before I came here; I didn't believe him at first, but after getting to know people I guess I'm starting to agree. Cynicism must be contagious…"

"Well, he is right, sort of. You just have to find the right people," she said.

"So you've made some friends after all?"

"Well…I guess so, cause I cannot think of anything else to call them. I met a foreign exchange student in the first week and he was just so _friendly_. He was in my orientation group actually, so I was with him for the whole first week. Just by the end of the first day though he said we were BFF's or something, and now I hang out with him and some of the others from our group every once in a while."

"Well I'm glad you're having more luck than me, although I'm not too worried since I really don't have time for anything else."

Nephenee looked concerned, "Maybe, but you still need friends. We are all going to the open mic night at eight; your class is from five to seven-thirty right? You can come if you want."

Rolf considered it for a minute and then smiled, "Why not? I do need to get out, even Ike has been telling me that much. And speaking of five to seven-thirty, it's almost five now. I gotta go, see you later Nephenee!"

"Bye Rolf," she said, getting up and giving him a hug before watching him run off towards the social science building. Smiling, she picked up her backpack and headed off for the cafeteria. A good day had gotten better.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Rolf stretched before quickly snatching his arms back as he felt his hand brush someone behind him.

"Woops," he said, turning in his seat, "Sorry, long class."

The girl smiled as she got up from her chair, "Noooo lie. But the weekend is nigh!"

Rolf laughed as she headed for the door and then stood, gathering his own books and following the rest of the class out the door. Walking the short distance to the Altina Performing Arts Center, Rolf couldn't help wondering at his good fortune running into Nephenee. He would have to be more patient with Ross in the future. Pulling open the silent glass doors, he stepped into the building and looked around. He was half an hour early, but he thought it would be less awkward if he was the first one there instead of walking up to group of people and trying to get to know everyone at once.

"Rolf!"

He was not, however, the first one there. Turning, he spotted Nephenee coming into the atrium from around the curved inner walls of the auditorium.

"I was hoping you would be here early, come on, we already have seats."

"How many people usually come to open mic night?" Rolf asked, following her in.

"Oh not very many, maybe thirty? And the performers are usually the same people every week. We just come because one of our friends sings. How was class?"

"Boring and long, I _almost_ fell asleep."

"I can relate. Last time, in my etymology class, I was sure I was awake the whole time, but when I looked up from my desk I realized twenty minutes had gone by and I had no idea what my professor had said. Poof," she said, spreading her fingers to emphasize the word.

Rolf laughed, looking around the auditorium, "Exactly. Where is everyone?"

"Up front, but there are just three of us at the moment. Well, four now that you are here."

Making her way down an aisle, Nephenee called out to one of the figures sitting in the front row, looking up at the empty stage, "Hey Ewan!"

A young man turned around at the sound of her voice, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Is this your friend?" he asked, getting up as they reached the front row.

"Yes," she answered, "this is Rolf. Rolf, this is Ewan."

Rolf smiled and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you." He looked to be about Rolf's age, with russet hair and eyes to match. He radiated energy, and Rolf didn't find it hard to believe he made friends quickly.

"And this is Marisa," she said, gesturing to the girl who had been sitting next to Ewan.

"Hey," she said flatly, getting up and offering her hand to Rolf. She wore a sleeveless black top with wide, brown and gold bands around her upper arms, and clay red boots over her jeans. Her eyes were an off shade of blue, almost purple, and her hair was tied back in high ponytail.

"Hey," Rolf replied, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah," she answered, "same here. Nephenee says you're a crack shot with a rifle."

Rolf raised a shoulder, "Eh, I'm not awful. Do you shoot?"

"No, too busy," she answered, sitting back down and crossing her legs at the ankle.

"What she means by _that_," Ewan said, "is 'I'm a nationally ranked fencer, but can't be bothered to tell anyone for fear of being interesting to talk to.'"

"It's Iaido, and don't pretend you can't pronounce it. I know it's somewhere in that drug addled brain of yours," she replied, crossing her arms.

Ewan's eyes rolled around until he was looking at Rolf out of the corner of his eyes, "I have ADHD, the real kind, not the 'my child is doing poorly in school, let's diagnose that business' kind. I take meds for it; Marisa on the other hand won't so much as touch an aspirin."

"They don't even help," she said.

"So I can stop taking my meds and you'll take responsibility when Tethys and Gerik come kicking down the doors after they find out?" he asked.

"…they _rarely_ help," she amended.

Rolf laughed, taking a seat next to Nephenee, "So you two knew each other before orientation week, I take it?"

"Oh yeah," Ewan said, waving the question off like the answer should be obvious to everyone, "Marisa goes way back with my sister and her husband."

"So you're foreign exchange as well, Marisa?" Rolf asked.

"Yup. That's the only reason Ewan's here; his sister heard I was attending Mainal and she said if Ewan was going to school anywhere, it would be where someone could keep an eye on him. That means me."

"So where are you from?"

"Magvel."

"Wow. That's like a twenty hour flight isn't it?"

"Twenty-one," she answered.

"Marisa likes to keep track of things," Ewan said. "That, or she wanted to make it clear that she really did have to spend twenty-one hours on a plane with me."

"Next to you," Marisa said quietly, and Ewan continued to talk away, not really caring if no one was listening.

Rolf turned to Nephenee, "Is it always like this?"

"Yup, hope it will not bother you."

"Not at all," Rolf said, leaning back as a few more students came into the auditorium. "It reminds me of home. It's like having a surrogate Soren and Mia."

"Oh no," Nephenee said, "Marisa is not mean…just straightforward."

Rolf smiled, that was exactly what he had meant, but he didn't say anything as the first act walked onto the stage.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"You know Shinon, I should probably get going."

Rolf looked at Shinon, who looked back at him quizzically. It had been a week since they'd last talked.

"Go? And leave me here with nothing to do? What, you have an exam or something?"

Rolf shook his head and stood up, "No, just meeting up with some friends."

"Friends? What do you need friends for, you're coming back in less than a year, isn't it kind of pointless to make-"

"Sorry Shinon, gotta run, tell everyone I say hi!"

"Yeah yeah, have fun or…something."

Shinon closed the video chat program and swiveled around in the computer chair, staring into the empty room. Seemed like everyone had something important to do, even the college kid. After a moment he stood, stretched, and sighed.

Leaving his room, Shinon walked down the hall and stopped at a closed door.

"Boyd," he said.

"Yeah?" came a voice from behind the closed door, which swung open shortly after.

"You find anyone to take your shift tomorrow?"

"No not yet."

"I'll do it."

Boyd blinked, and stared.

"Don't make anything of it," Shinon said, grabbing the door handle and closing it. "I'm just bored."

* * *

_So yes. Planting multiple FE universes on one planet was an idea I toyed with, rejected as too much, and then found too much fun to throw out all together. Rest assured this is still going to be almost exclusively FE Radiant Dawn characters, I just COULDN'T LEAVE THE IDEA ALONE. If it will come back in the future has yet to be decided, meaning I don't know any more than you. Speculation abounds. Thanks for reading, if you wish to praise or criticize go ahead and click the little "review" button down there, I promise you will make my day. Until next update,_

_Twilight Rurouni_**  
**


	8. Chasing Shadows

"Ike?" Mist called, her footsteps echoing as she walked down the corridor.

It was late and the only sound to be heard was a dull, metallic clanging in the distance. Opening the door to the castle's gym facilities Mist continued toward the noise. Walking past a row of elliptical machines and tread mills, unmoving and silent at this hour of the night, Mist stopped and looked at herself in the long mirror covering the wall. It was a bit eerie, standing alone in a silent gym with half the lights turned off.

"Ike?" she called again. She stopped as she rounded a corner and spotted him on a shoulder press machine. He was wearing black shorts and a gray tank top, sweat pouring down his face as the weights returned to their lowered position.

"Hey Mist," he said, picking up a towel from a nearby bench. "Need something?"

"Uh, sorta," she answered. "Kieran accepted the offer to head up Elincia's security detail…"

"Well yeah, I knew he would."

"In person," she finished. "He's upstairs in one of the conference rooms."

Ike dropped the towel into a duffel bag and let out a sigh before getting to his feet. If Kieran was here in person that meant he'd done something reckless, considering he was supposed to be working on the border of Crimea and Daein.

"I knew I should have waited to ask him," Ike said, "Did you explain there has to be a security detail to head before he can actually do anything?"

"Yes," she said flatly, "he said he doesn't care. And, technically, he's AWOL right now. We need to get him back right away or he's in deep trouble."

"That's just like it him," Ike answered, throwing on a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"Really?" Mist asked. "He always seemed too dedicated to honor and conduct to do something like desert his post."

"You only knew him during the war though, when his post had everything to do with Elincia. If she was in danger he was right by her side. Like I said, I should have known he wouldn't wait for another month and a half to be discharged," Ike answered, throwing the bag over his shoulder and heading for the exit.

Mist looked down at the floor as they walked, scrutinizing the tile, "Was Kieran… Did he love Elincia?"

Ike didn't say anything, but she knew he had an answer, he just didn't know how to explain it. He had always been like that, making sure to understand something completely before committing to it.

"Yes," he said finally. "But not in the way you mean, it's hard to explain. He loved Elincia because it was his duty to protect her, and he probably still feels that way. Kieran was born in the wrong time period, he really should have been a knight. I'm pretty sure I heard the phrase 'fair lady' come out of his mouth at one point. It's a love of loyalty, he doesn't expect to be with her."

Mist nodded. It was kind of strange, and a little sad, but she understood.

"I suppose Kieran wouldn't have it any other way," she mused.

"Mhm. When did he get here?"

"About an hour ago. Soren's spent most of it trying to convince him to return to the border."

"I see. They're in here?" Ike asked, stopping outside a door with a shiny brass plaque designating it as 'Conference Room A'. Voices could be heard from behind the closed door.

"Yeah. Titania too."

Ike opened the door and took a step inside, the three figures seated at the end of a long, wooden table turning as he did so.

"Commander!" Kieran said, jumping up and snapping a salute.

Ike stared at him for a moment before saying, "I'm not your commanding officer anymore, Kieran. I'm not even in the military."

"With all due respect sir, it doesn't matter. The bonds we in this room share can't be so easily broken."

Ike took a deep breath and then, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to begin my assignment, as head of Queen Elincia's security detail."

"There _is_ no security detail. You're a month and a half early. If you don't return to the border tonight you're going to be court marshaled."

"All facts of which he has been informed. Several times," Soren interjected.

"Those are no excuses," Kieran said. "If I'd known Queen Elincia was without protection I would have been here much sooner."

"She's not without protection," Ike said, "she's hired us for the time being."

"That may be so but-"

"Let me make this clear, Kieran. I am not happy to see you right now. If you are given a dishonorable discharge you can't be anywhere near Elincia, and that means I'll have to find someone to replace you. Someone who will probably be much less dependable."

"Although infinitely more rational," Soren added.

Kieran fell silent, taking a seat as he considered what Ike had said.

"We need you to go back tonight," Titania pressed. "We can see about an early discharge later, but this isn't the right way to go about the job. Elincia would say the same thing."

"I can't," Kieran said.

"Look," Soren replied, "You might be okay with this, but in the end it's just more work for us and-"

"No Soren, I really mean I can't. I don't have a motorcycle anymore."

"You took your own motorcycle here, your civilian motorcycle?" Soren asked. "How did you get it?"

"I moved out to the border so I would be able to better carry out my assignment, remember? It really wasn't that hard to get out and run the ten miles to my house."

"Okay…fine. But if you rode it here you can ride it back."

"No I really can't. I told you, I don't have a motorcycle, I haven't for a while."

"And what does _that_ mean?" Soren asked.

"I sold it online two weeks ago to a man on Fifth Street, the day you offered me the job. I just rode it down here so he wouldn't have to pay shipping…and also there's no way I could be here, technically. I can't access my bank account to get cash while I'm on base, and records will show I never bought a ticket for a plane, bus, or train with my card, and I don't own any form of vehicle. They can't honestly say a walked here in one night."

"Fifth Street? You mean that Fifth Street?" Soren repeated, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he pointed to the window.

"The very one."

Moving to the window Soren cracked the blinds, peering down at the city streets. In the dim light of the streetlamps he could see a deep red motorcycle, gleaming out of the darkness.

"Oh no," he said, snapping the blinds closed, "You are going back across the street and taking that back to your post."

"That," Kieran said, raising an eyebrow, "would be stealing."

Soren's nostrils flared, and Ike stepped in before he could speak, "Enough. I'll take you back Kieran, go get your things."

Kieran looked momentarily torn before he rose to his feet, saluting again, "Sir."

As soon as he left the room Titania slumped into a chair and Mist broke down into a fit of laughter. Soren raked his fingers through his hair.

"The man is clearly delusional," he said, "He acts like he's a foreign agent for central intelligence, the kind that 'technically doesn't exist'."

"I wish he was," Ike said, turning to go after Kieran. "Then this would be Lucia's problem."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Commander," Kieran said, staring straight ahead as the company SUV ate up the highway at a ferocious rate. Above them a temporary emergency vehicle siren silently flashed red and blue in the night.

"It's no problem," Ike said, trying to sound sincere, "Your dedication is one of the reasons I picked you for the job. In the future though, please try to keep the big picture in mind. You wouldn't want to make things more difficult for Elincia."

"No sir."

Ike didn't answer, and the car fell into silence. It was two forty-seven in the morning and the highways were mostly empty as they drove through northern Crimea. Reflecting on the past few hours, Ike knew Soren would want to talk with him about the prudence of hiring Kieran once he got back. Still, he knew the man would do an excellent job despite his eccentricities. He was the third most decorated officer Crimean history, which included being the most recent recipient of the Paladin's Cross; it was the highest decoration which didn't require a posthumous awarding.

"Kieran, do you see much of Tauroneo?" he asked.

"Occasionally, but not often. He's an important man, usually he stays with Micaiah and Sothe," Kieran answered.

"I guess that makes sense…" Ike replied, trailing off. "How are Micaiah and Sothe doing anyway?"

"They are still adjusting," Kieran answered. "The war took a heavy toll on all of us, but at least Crimea and Begnion had stable governments in place beforehand. Daein gets stronger every day though, and the people love them."

Ike smiled, "No surprise there. Is that it?"

Kieran nodded as Ike pointed to a road with a heavy gate at the entrance, "Yes. Hard to believe it was just eleven hours ago that I left through those gates."

Ike gave a tired laugh and held out his hand, "Just give me your I.D. card."

Kieran handed it over, sitting upright in his seat as they approached the sentries. Rolling down the window, Ike looked at the man inside the small building.

"Identification," he said, holding out his hand.

"Here," Ike said, handing over both Kieran's I.D. and his own which gained him access to the parliament building.

The man looked at them and then took a closer look at Kieran, "We've been looking for him since yesterday afternoon."

"This is from General Delbray," Ike said, extending a document which the man accepted, his eyebrows raising a fraction of an inch before masking the surprise. Keeping an eye on Ike he placed the sheet of paper in a scanner, handing it back to him after a moment.

"Go ahead," he said, the gates slowly sliding open as he pressed a button.

Ike rolled up the window and handed the document to Kieran, "You can-"

He stopped as his phone began to vibrate. Removing it from its clip, he saw Titania's name illuminated the screen.

"What is it?" he answered. "Yes we just got in, everything went smoothly. Yes…no, tell me now… When? Are you sure it was broken? Okay I'm on my way."

"What happened?" Kieran asked as Ike replaced the phone.

"Mist fell and broke her arm," Ike answered.

"You should be on your way then!" Kieran said, getting out of the car.

"You can thank Soren later for writing that up," Ike said, nodding toward the paper, "and Geoffrey for signing it."

"Yes sir!" Kieran said, closing the door before running off toward the barracks.

Ike tapped out a beat on the steering wheel with his thumbs as he made his way back through the gate, his impatience obvious now that he was alone. As soon as he was out he turned the siren back on and accelerated, the vehicle lurching as gears shifted. Ike eyed the speedometer, hovering somewhere around one hundred twenty, and then looked down at his cell phone. Accessing recent calls he selected Titania's name, his eyes back on the road as he placed the phone against his ear. She picked up in the middle of the first ring.

"Hey," he said, "Is she okay? Good, and you already let Geoffrey know? No, no one else. Have Gatrie and Oscar outside her door, and Mia in the room with her. Have Shinon on the roof, in the blind counter-sniping. I'll try to be there in three hours."

He hit the end button and replaced the phone on his belt, both hands on the wheel as the speedometer moved past the indicated maximum speed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"She's in the safe-room?" Ike asked, Titania meeting him at the entrance to the castle.

"Yes, Mia and Rhys too," she answered, handing him two extra clips of ammunition.

"Good," Ike replied, "What about Mist and Boyd?"

"Mist is with Soren in your room going over files, Boyd is upstairs with Geoffrey."

"Alright, I'm going to talk to Geoffrey, you go check on Mist and Soren then come see me," he said, heading up the stairs to Elincia's room. Making his way down the hall, Ike wondered if this had purposefully been done while he was gone.

Coming to Elincia's room he stopped, examining the damage. The door truly had been blown off its hinges, the splintered wood evidence enough of that. Inside Boyd and Geoffrey were still searching the room, which otherwise appeared to be untouched.

"Ike," Geoffrey said, looking up as he entered the room, "I'm glad you made it here so quickly. We informed Lord Renning, but thought it best to hold off on telling anyone else."

"Good," Ike answered, taking a look around the room, "They didn't take anything did they?"

"Unfortunately no."

"That's a bad thing?" Boyd said, looking from one to the other as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, because it makes it less likely some strung out crack-head just didn't realize what building this was," Geoffrey answered.

"And indicates they were after Elincia, who wasn't in the room at the time," Ike finished, looking at the jewelry on the dresser, untouched. "The ground security didn't see anything?"

Geoffrey shook his head, "No. Whoever this was, he got out as soon as he realized she wasn't in her room."

Ike surveyed the room again, looking over his shoulder as Titania entered, "Got anything?"

"Nothing big enough or political enough for this. There's the usual factions, people upset over the most recent elections and legislature, but nothing more," she answered. "We haven't had a serious threat since the coup before the Goddess' War."

"So we have nothing."

"Not quite," Soren said, entering the room, "this is a transcript of the final statement made by Duke Ludveck before he was locked away."

Ike took a sheet of paper from him, scanning the brief statement.

_13:01: How many will die before you realize Crimea is weak? I'm not the villain. Neither are you. You're just misguided and idealistic_,_ but it's going to kill this country. Although apparently I wasn't strong enough to beat even you, so perhaps I'm undeserving after all…_

"That's it?" Ike asked, rereading the cryptic statement.

"Not very helpful, but I suppose we could go talk to Ludveck," Titania said.

Ike nodded, "All right, you and Soren go."

Soren frowned, "He's just going to patronize us, I doubt prison has done anything to temper his suffocating self-righteousness."

"Go anyway, if anyone can take him down a few notches it's you," Ike said.

Soren sighed and turned around to follow Titania from the room. When they had gone Ike turned to Geoffrey, "What did Lord Renning have to say?"

"He said he would use some of his more discreet contacts to look into it. I'm not sure exactly what he hopes to find, if anything at all, but I'm waiting to hear back from him."

Ike replied slowly, losing himself in thought, "Discreet contacts, huh…well let me know what he says. Did you already see Elincia?"

"Yes, but only for a moment before coming here. Now that there's nothing more to find though, I'd just as soon go see her again."

"Go ahead, Boyd and I can wait here."

"Thank you."

Geoffrey strode from the room, leaving the two alone. Looking around Ike walked to the window, which Boyd had covered with the riot shutters.

"What was everyone doing when this happened?" he asked, cracking the steel shutters and peering out before closing them up again.

Boyd shrugged, "Who knows, despite the damage we didn't hear anything so it could have happened whenever. Elincia's detail today, er, yesterday was Mia, Gatrie, Oscar, and Shinon though, so they were with her. Mist was asleep in our room since twelve, and Soren was in the lounge since you left. Titania was with Elincia for most of the night too."

"What about you?"

Boyd quietly answered, "Ah, probably putting laundry in the dryer…"

Ike's eyebrow quirked, but he ignored it. Boyd was on a strange schedule. "When did they find it?"

"Around three. When Titania called you we were already in the process of getting Elincia to the safe-room."

Ike checked his watch, it was six thirty.

"All right, thanks Boyd. Hey, can I borrow your phone?"

"What for?" Boyd asked, removing a hand-held from his belt.

Ike didn't answer, just pulled a face and shook his head. Boyd raised both hands in surrender, falling back on the bed as Ike left the room. Walking the short distance to his room he opened the door slowly, watching Mist as she stared blankly at a computer screen filled with text. Her hair was disheveled and even Ike could tell she was wearing whatever happened to be closest when she woke up.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh hey," she answered, turning around. "Did you get Kieran back all right?"

"Yeah," he said, stepping into the room, "it went well, a lot better than what was going on here from the sound of it."

"Don't have to tell _me_ that," she said, stifling a yawn. "Do you need something?"

"Well this _is_ my room," he said.

She blinked, looked around, and then, "Oh yeah, right. In that case I'm going back to bed."

"Also," he said as she headed for the door, "I need to borrow your phone."

She patted her jeans pockets for a moment before looking up, "It must be—oh wait, there it is. On your desk. Ugh, I'm so tired…"

Ike smiled as she walked out, closing the door behind her. Sitting down at the desk he moved aside Soren's laptop and set the two phones along with his own out on the polished wooden surface.

"Here goes…"

Keying in the same number on all three phones, he placed his fingers one by one on all three call buttons before pressing down simultaneously. A moment later a voice came from Boyd's phone letting him know the number he'd dialed had been disconnected, while his and Mist's sounded the busy signal.

"Goddess above," he muttered, hanging up all three as the operator was suggesting he hang up and try again later.

Again he keyed in the same number before pressing the send buttons at the same time. This time his phone told him he'd dialed a disconnected number while Boyd's and Mist's gave him the busy signal. Frowning, he quickly pressed the end buttons and sat back in the computer chair, arms crossed as he stared down the phones.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Soren looked at Titania as a loud buzzer sounded and the metal grating started to slide to the right. All around them were gray walls, floors, and bars.

"I'm already beginning to feel this is a waste of time," he said, stepping through the gate and into the penitentiary.

"You said that back at the castle too," Titania pointed out, "So I doubt this is a recent development."

"Well it's still true," Soren answered, following the guard down the cell blocks.

"Even if we only determine that Ludveck knows nothing, and his last statement was just a lot of hot air, it'll be worthwhile tying a loose end up," Titania said.

Soren didn't reply as they continued walking, eventually stopping outside a metal door. The guard pressed a button and the door slid up, revealing bars behind it. Behind those, lying prone on a single mattress suspended from the wall, was Ludveck.

"Visitors," the guard said flatly, and then turning to Titania, "You have fifteen minutes."

She nodded and he left. For a moment no one said anything and then, slowly, Ludveck sat up.

"Did you know," he said, "in years gone by it was considered rude for visitors to stay longer than fifteen minutes? How proper of the prisons to maintain the tradition."

"Here we go…" Soren said, his tone dull.

"Ludveck," started Titania, "we need to talk to you."

"Whatever for? It's not like you didn't route me completely. You didn't even kill me, allowing me the satisfaction of becoming a martyr."

"It's about your final statement," she said.

"I wasn't aware I had a final statement," he replied.

"It was the one you made right before they locked you up forever," Soren said.

"And you expect me to remember that?" he asked.

Titania raised a hand to quiet Soren and pulled out a sheet of paper, "No, we don't, so here it is."

He moved closer, examining it with mild interest from behind the bars.

"That's it?" he said after a minute. Titania nodded.

"Well it means exactly what it says so I don't know what you want to talk about. I may have lost to Elincia, but she's far too meek to make a good ruler. When things get worse you'll see; Crimea is going to fall apart at the seams."

"Things already got worse, and Elincia never faltered once," Titania reminded him.

"I suppose," he said, narrowing his eyes as a small smile tugged at his lips. "Why are you asking me this anyway?"

When Titania didn't answer, Soren spoke up, "We're following up on your coup. With the Goddess' War directly on its heels, we never had a chance to find out if we completely wiped out the organization you started."

"I don't believe you. But I will tell you this, anything which started with me also ended with me," he answered.

"And I believe you know something more," Soren said, drawing closer to the bars.

"There's nothing more to know," he replied.

"Then answer this, why did you say Elincia wasn't the villain either?"

"Such idiocy from you even. I already explained, I never thought Elincia was evil, simply a poor ruler. The garden of our government needed pruning."

"Poetic," Soren deadpanned. "What did you mean earlier, when you said Crimea would fall apart at the seams?"

Ludveck shook his head, "Again, it means exactly what I said: It is obvious to everyone except you that Elincia is not fit to rule. Someone will fix that, as I already tried to. You're chasing shadows."

Soren played with the attorney's badge around his neck, trying to get a read on Ludveck. Finally he turned to Titania, "Well?"

"I think we're done. He's not going to say anything that hasn't already been said. Let's go."

She folded up the paper and put it in her pocket, following Soren as he turned and made his way back down the cell block.

"Wait."

They stopped.

"What?" Soren asked, not returning to the cell, or even turning around.

"I'm in here for life without parole. That's a long sentence."

Soren didn't answer. Ludveck's voice had dropped in pitch. He sounded tired, worn out. His air of nobility had faded.

"I'm never getting out of here. But if by someone's decision my sentence is cut short…you should read into it."

Soren waited a beat, and then continued, Titania close behind. Without a word they walked back through the facility, out the gate and past the barbwire fencing into the parking lot. Climbing into the SUV, Soren pulled out his phone and hit the first number on speed dial.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ike entered the room, looking over as his phone rang. Soren's named was on the display.

"Soren?" he said, removing his phone from the lineup. He'd gone to eat breakfast after the third try, leaving the phones on the desk.

"I'm still at the castle…no nothing yet. What did he say? …that doesn't sound very helpful…yes I know what it means. Yeah I'm on it…bye."

He hung up and set the phone back down before taking a deep breath.

"Fourth time's the charm..." he said, keying in the number once again. This time all three phones rang once, and then fell silent. Ike held his breath as the pause continued. Finally a muffled click sounded, coming from Boyd's phone.

"Hey," Ike said, picking it up and bringing it to his ear.

"What is it, Ike?"

The voice was flat, disaffected.

"You still dark?" he asked.

"Yes."

"I need you active again."

He waited a moment, then looked down as his phone began to make sounds. He set Boyd's phone down and picked it up, "What?"

"I said what needs looking into."

"Duke Ludveck and the coup from last year."

"What about it?"

"I need to know if it was part of something bigger, either inside or outside Crimea."

Another pause, and then Mist's phone began to make noises. Ike picked it up, "Can you repeat that?"

"I said what comes first, inside or outside. Pay attention."

"I am, this three phone set-up is tedious."

"It changes every ten seconds, keeps me invisible. Anticipate it. Now, inside or-"

Ike switched to his phone again and answered the question, "Inside."

"Standard rates apply; half now, half when the job is finished."

"I'll have it wired."

"I'll start the job when I've confirmed that. Anything else?"

Back to Mist's phone, "No. Contact me if you find anything."

"I'll be in touch."

The line went dead and Ike hung up, staring off into space as he considered what Soren had told him. He hoped it didn't mean anything.

"Ike?"

He turned at Mist's voice and a knock on the door. It opened, revealing Mist standing in her pajamas.

"Are you done with my phone yet? And Boyd wants his back too."

Ike rose, clipping his phone onto his belt and handing her the other two, "Yeah I'm done."

"Who did you call?" she asked, "There's no new number in the call history."

Ike moved past her and out into the hall, his answer coming out through an exhausted sigh.

"No one."

* * *

_As you can see, I don't have much to say this update. Hope you enjoyed it, reviews are always loved._

_Twilight Rurouni  
_


	9. Coalescence

_Just finished one story, figured why not post again and make it a double update night. This fic is slightly more nuanced, though, which probably means boring, haha. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

"All parties concerned have signed?"

Soren threw the document onto the desk, "Yes, although I'm still astounded that you would require a blood pact. You know their nature is duplicitous."

Roman picked up the contract, leafing through the pages before examining the signatures at the end, "Yes well, one can never be too careful these days."

Soren didn't miss a beat, "Precisely. Either way, there it is. This is the end of the red tape, correct?"

Roman smiled wide, tapping the pages on the table as if they weren't neatly held together with a staple, "Yes, a wonderful feeling isn't it? You're free to go about your business until the contract has been completed. I'm sure it won't be long, I know you do good work."

"And that," Soren added, pointing to the blood pact, "will be disposed of upon completion."

"Of course, what kind of question is that?"

"It wasn't a question," Soren said, picking up his briefcase and leaving the office.

"Good to see you too…" Roman said, pulling open a desk drawer as the door clicked shut.

Pushing open the doors of the Department of Defense and heading down the marble stairs, Soren spotted Oscar waiting for him at a parking meter. Sliding in on the passenger side he leaned back, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before throwing his briefcase in the back seat as Oscar pulled out into traffic.

"How'd it go?" he asked, checking the rearview mirror as he switched lanes.

Soren unbuttoned the top of his shirt as he answered, "I despise that man, but besides his irritating demeanor and lack of professional tact, fine. We are free to proceed as we will."

"Good, we're going to need the freedom if we want to figure out what happened the other night."

Soren nodded, his eyes going out of focus as he considered what had happened. It had been two days since the break-in, and the castle was still on high alert with double the patrols and a full retinue with Elincia at all times. It would be at the very least a week before things calmed down.

"What bothers me is Lord Renning," Soren said at last.

"You mean that he couldn't find anything?" Oscar asked, braking for a yellow light.

"It's not that he couldn't find anything so much as, the way he put it, there was nothing to be found. Local factions have always had something to complain about since Elincia took the throne, and now there's nothing."

"It is odd, but two days isn't that long a time really. It's possible for two days they just stopped complaining."

"People _never_ stop complaining."

Oscar let it go at that as his cell phone began to vibrate.

"Hello?" he said, not checking the caller I.D. as he accelerated. "Well I'm driving but…no it's fine, what's going on? …really? It's always like that isn't it. Yup. Yeah I'll send it. Okay, say hi to Rolf for me if you see him. Love you too."

"And how is Astrid," Soren asked, keeping his eyes on the scenery out the window.

"Fine, it's just her professor added another book to the course list for one of her classes and it's two hundred and fifty dollars. She has an older edition at her house; I'm going to send it to her."

"She can probably find it online for free."

Oscar nodded, "Yeah, but she likes books. Besides, if she doesn't have her laptop or there's no wireless it will be nice to have it."

"I suppose. Turn here," Soren said, "we're picking up Mist from the doctor's. 124 West Avenue."

Oscar turned right, glancing over at Soren as he did, "We are? Why is she at the doctor's?"

"I should clarify; we're picking her up from the _lady_ doctor's."

"Ah," Oscar said, pulling up in front of what looked like an office building. "You mean the-"

"Yes that one."

A small smile crept onto Oscar's face. Very little made Soren feel awkward, it was amusing. Looking up he spotted Mist coming out the front doors, wearing the yellow blouse Boyd had gotten for her. Climbing into the back seat she sighed, sliding down into the leather upholstery.

"It's so hot out," she said, reaching for her seatbelt as Oscar shifted into gear.

"The hottest day of the year," Oscar replied.

"I believe it. So how's your day been, guys?"

"Fine, although a little boring. I spent the morning with Ike at the Department of Internal Affairs going over protocol and planning out Elincia's schedule for the next month. No more playing it by ear after what happened," Oscar answered.

"And yours Soren?"

"Wholly unremarkable. I spent the day chasing down everyone for signatures and then waiting to meet with Pauvlo," Soren replied.

"That does sound boring…" she said, staring out the window. "Mine wasn't any better though. Everything on Elincia's schedule needs to go through double the clearance it did before, so that's what I did until my appointment."

"What a drab day," Oscar commented with a laugh, "let's do something fun this evening."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, what would you like to do?"

Mist thought for a moment and spoke, "Let's get gelato! Boyd's not on duty tonight either, so he can come too."

"We're going to spend half the evening explaining what gelato _is_," Soren commented, "before-"

"Soren don't be mean," Mist interrupted.

"_Before_," Soren continued, "having to relent and just tell him it's ice cream."

"Well that's basically what it is," Mist said.

"It still does a poor job of drawing the distinction. By that logic you are 'basically' just a secretary," Soren replied, eyeing her in the pull down mirror. "By your expression I can see I've hit a nerve."

"No," she sniffed, "but you're buying tonight."

Soren gave Oscar an 'I'm-not-getting-out-if-this' look before answering, "Not Boyd's."

Mist smiled at the idea of free gelato, "Pft, fine with me. I doubt he'll eat much, at least not this time while he still doesn't know what it is."

Oscar shook his head as the two continued to talk, tuning out the banter as he headed for the castle. He wondered if Ike would be up for fancy ice cream.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ike cracked his neck and shifted his position at the door, moving his weight to the balls of his feet. Looking up from her work Elincia's brow furrowed.

"Ike, you know you don't have to stand guard personally. I didn't contract you for that."

Ike shook his head, "You didn't expect to have a break-in either, and it's just for this next week. You know what they say about getting something done right."

"Yes," she mused, looking down at the stacks of paperwork, "do it yourself…"

He avoided telling her Geoffrey requested he personally stand guard for a while, although he had been planning on it anyway. If his experience in the wars had taught him anything, it was that nothing was beneath the commander. Besides, standing guard gave him plenty of time to think.

"Ike," Elincia said, keeping her eyes on the pages in front of her, "what comes next? Is there anything more we can do, or is it just a waiting game now?"

Ike laughed, "Ah, I was just thinking the same thing. Honestly, we've done all we can with the information we have. Ludveck isn't saying any more, and all of your uncle's contacts came up with nothing. And who knows, maybe it's for the best. This could have been a freak accident and in two months this will be in the records as an isolated incident."

"That would be nice," she sighed, setting down her pen and shuffling papers around into different stacks. "Ike, isn't it your birthday soon?"

"Not for another few weeks. Why?"

"No reason. It is your twenty-first though, you should do something special."

Ike raised an eyebrow, to which Elincia paused and raised her own, matching his expression.

"Come on," she said after a minute, "you know what I mean. The next important birthday after twenty-one is forty, and that's because you're old."

"Twenty-five," Ike corrected.

Elincia gave him a look, "The male brain matures?"

"Car insurance goes down."

Elincia rolled her eyes.

"Besides, I'm sure I won't have to worry about it," Ike continued, "Mia and Boyd will certainly have something planned for me."

"Those two," Elincia murmured, a slight smile creeping over her features. She fell silent as Ike's phone went off.

"Hello?" he answered. "I'm with Elincia. Gatrie, Mia, and Shinon…no I can't I'm on the detail permanently until the end of the week…I did. Yeah it's okay, have fun. I'll tell Boyd. Bye."

"Who was that?" Elincia asked.

"Mist," he said, "she wanted to let me know they're going out for gelato later and asked me to tell Boyd."

"Why can't she tell him?"

"Apparently he's not answering his phone. He's probably asleep," he answered, opening the door and sticking his head out, "Mia. Go check on Boyd will you? He's probably asleep in his room."

Mia jumped to her feet and headed down the hall towards the staircase, "On it boss."

Ike closed the door and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as his mind went back to the question of what next. Elincia could only be protected so much; she had places to be and things to do. If this got any worse though, then the reconstruction of the guard would have to take back seat to her safety, which meant the whole government system would grind to a halt. At least they'd gotten Pauvlo out of the way… Ike looked up as his earpiece chirped.

"Yeah? Okay I'm on my way."

"Is something wrong?" Elincia asked as he opened the door.

"No. Shinon, take my place for a minute," he answered, stepping out into the hallway.

Making his way down the hall away from Elincia's office, he went up the stairs to the third level where the bedrooms were. As he walked toward Mist and Boyd's room he saw Mia standing outside, looking in. Her sidearm was drawn.

"Mia what's the…"

He trailed off as he reached the open door and looked inside. The bed was unmade and the window wide open. Boyd's phone lay on the desk, and as Ike entered the room he could see the display read five missed calls.

Ike drew Ragnell and quietly moved into the room, making his way over to the single walk-in closet. Taking a knee, and with Mia covering the door over his shoulder, he slid it open. Nothing was inside.

"Close the window," he said, flicking on the closet light and pushing the clothes aside before turning back to examine the room.

Nothing was out of place except the messy bed, but there was no telling how long it had been that way. Ike frowned, walked over to the phone and pressed the 'view now' option.

"All from Mist," he said, "The first one was this morning at ten twenty-three."

"He could have just forgotten it…" Mia said.

"That's probably the case, but considering what happened we can't just wait around for him. Go get Titania."

Mia left and Ike continued to walk around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. After a moment he pulled out his phone, accessed the call log and hit send.

"Ike?"

"Hey Mist," he said, "Did Boyd have anything to do today?"

"No," she said, "all he was talking about last night was how much he couldn't wait to not wake up today. He was still asleep when I left, did you get a hold of him?"

"Not quite. He went somewhere and forgot to take his phone. I have it here."

"Of course. Well his loss, I'm sure he'll be back for dinner."

"Yeah. Anyway, I have to get back to work, see you later."

"Bye."

Ike hung up and put his phone away. The situation wasn't getting any better, and as he stared at the window frame he didn't think it would be. The metal was warped, as if the window had been forced open, and the locking mechanism was bent. Ike slammed the window shut and pulled a telescoping baton from his belt, using it to jam the window closed. Not that it did any good now. A moment later Titania walked in, Mia at her side.

"I've already contacted Lord Renning," she said, "although I'm uncertain of what he can do. Are you sure Boyd didn't just forget it."

"Yes," Ike said, gesturing to the window, "or, assuming anything else would be stupid."

Titania made her way to the window, a hand running gently along the frame, her fingers playing over the bent metal. She examined the baton before turning back to Ike.

"We'll have to put these in all the windows until we can have locks replaced. If the windows can be removed they're no good."

Ike nodded, he knew that had to be done. Both turned to Mia, who had been uncharacteristically silent up to that point.

"Mia, go tell Shinon he needs to go to the locksmith. Give him this to take with him," Ike said, scribbling down a set of specifications on a notepad and handing it over.

Mia nodded and took the paper, disappearing from the room without a word.

"I'll go start jamming the windows," Titania said, her tone indicating it was absurd they even had to resort to such measures.

"All right…I'm going to have a talk with Elincia," Ike said, shutting the door as they exited the room. "Also, don't tell Mist until later. No sense ruining her evening."

"Are you sure about that? We might just want to rein everyone in for the night," Titania pointed out.

"Yeah I'm sure," Ike answered. He knew where she was coming from, but Mist had been stressed lately. She didn't need anything else adding to it unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I'll tell everyone later tonight. That's soon enough." Almost too soon, he thought, watching as Titania headed off down the hall. But there was nothing he could do about that.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Boyd's eyes fluttered open, his heart jumping when he realized he had no idea where he was.

"Took you long enough."

He sat up quickly, holding his head when the room began to swim. A single light illuminated the small, stuffy space, and the air was thick with dust motes. Sunlight leaked through the slats where boards had been hammered over windows. To his right a man stood in the shadows, wearing a dark brown jacket over beige pants tucked into combat boots. A scarf hid his face and hung over his shoulders, thrown carelessly around his neck.

"Who…who are you?" Boyd asked, bracing himself against the wall as he got to his feet.

"Irrelevant," the man answered, his eyes sliding over Boyd as if sizing him up.

"You…what did you do? Where are we?"

"Somewhere."

"Well what am I doing here?"

"Providing incentive."

"What?"Boyd grimaced, his hand going to the back of his head. He pulled it away and examined his fingers, covered with caked, crusty blood. "You didn't drug me? Why would you-"

"Oh I drugged you," the man said, easing himself away from the wall, "took as much tranquilizer as a horse."

Boyd blinked, trying to remember how much that was exactly. "Then why am I bleeding?"

"I may have dropped you on the way out of the castle. You carry like a sack of lead."

Boyd eyed the man again. He looked fit, but not strong. This man had carried him out of the castle alone?

"Why do you need me?" he asked.

The man shook his head, "Not you, anyone would do. You were the easiest. Stop asking questions, this won't take any longer than it has to."

"And what is 'this'?" Boyd asked, forging ahead despite the man's admonition.

"Waiting for worms to come out of the woodwork. Need them to think the castle has a security issue."

"Why?"

"Because it does. You're just blood in the water."

Boyd fell silent as he considered everything he'd been told. He was bait, or rather his kidnapping was bait. To point out how easy it was the break into the castle. This would draw out…someone. Someone would come to try and do what?

"You know they won't let this hit the news," Boyd said.

"Yes they will, Ike's not stupid."

Boyd was taken aback. If this man knew Ike then things were either much worse or much better than he'd originally thought. Ike sometimes kept things from them when he thought it best, played things close to the chest. He hoped this was one of those times.

"How do you know Ike?" he asked.

"He hired me after his father died. I'm a bit of a family antiquity by this point."

Boyd cocked an eyebrow, "So Ike put you up to this?"

The man shifted his shoulder, Boyd thought it may have been a shrug, "Not this specifically. He doesn't bother asking how I do things so long as they get done."

Boyd said nothing more as the man pulled out a long stemmed pipe and lit it with practiced ease, sliding it beneath his concealing scarf. Smoke poured out from behind the scarf, slipping through the material like water through a dam. The man's eyes watched him from behind the scarf, betraying nothing but a sense of haggard tolerance. After another moment he removed the pipe and tapped it sharply against his palm, stamping out the ashes which fell to the floor.

"So what now?" Boyd asked, looking around the room again.

"We wait, and gauge. Sit tight."

He left the room, the door locking with a click. Alone, Boyd sighed and took a seat against the wall, rubbing his head absentmindedly.

"Planned on sleeping all day," he muttered, "but not here."


End file.
